


the new romantics

by wildestdreams



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Bottom Louis, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Revenge, Smut, Top Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 01:34:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10687047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildestdreams/pseuds/wildestdreams
Summary: After being blindsided and dumped by his boyfriend Isaac, Louis does the only thing he can do: wallow and mope. But when Harry tells Louis that karma’s going to get Isaac eventually, Louis decides karma isn’t moving fast enough. He takes matters into his own hands, and if he has to drag Harry into his schemes and seduction plans, then so be it.orJohn Tucker Must DieAU featuring drunk dance sessions, bad disguises, and a seduction plan gone wrong.





	1. september/october

**Author's Note:**

> given the fact that i'm known for my angst, this fic will come as a shock for many, but i have no ragrets. this was a ton of fun to write and my baby for the past 2 and a half months. i could not have done it without my beta, [e](https://taketothesea.tumblr.com/). thanks so much for all your help and for coming through for me. also thanks to [liz](http://thedarkestlarrie.tumblr.com/) and [kat](http://harrystinyshorts.tumblr.com/) for reading the fic beforehand and letting me know your thoughts! i was lucky to have worked with the lovely [joanna](http://allyoursnocontrol.tumblr.com/) who did a manip for the fic based on the original movie poster of _john tucker must die_ , which you'll be able to see below and on the fic post! thank you so much!!!  
>   
> [fic post](http://butyouneverdo.tumblr.com/post/159836227585/fic-the-new-romantics-author-wildestdreams) | [fic page](http://softasurcheek.tumblr.com/tnr) | [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/123144119/playlist/3fLREBVafMEPrUaCAKeFFG) | [characters](http://softasurcheek.tumblr.com/tnrcharacters) | [tumblr](http://softasurcheek.tumblr.com/)  
>   
> a few au inspirations i used for the fic: [x](http://wokeuptired.tumblr.com/post/133732141316/post-breakup-aus) | [x](http://unicagem.tumblr.com/post/133945818678/winter-aus) | [x](http://wokeuptired.tumblr.com/post/115270371961/ok-but-some-actual-uni-aus-i-want) | [x](http://etchedstorylines.tumblr.com/post/113769858764/after-the-break-up-aus) | [x](http://kenaiskoda.tumblr.com/post/119898437912/established-relationship-aus) | [x](http://iobeyfandoms.tumblr.com/post/123486434219/aus) | [x](http://wearealsoboats.tumblr.com/post/109145997172) | [x](http://iobeyfandoms.tumblr.com/post/123486434219/aus) | [x](http://iobeyfandoms.tumblr.com/post/123486434219/aus)  
>   
> title taken from taylor swift's "the new romantics"

\---

Louis didn’t want to gloat, but his life was fantastic.

It was very rare that someone at his age had it all figured out. Something or another would always be wrong whether it be financial issues, relationship problems, or school being a complete pain in the ass on top of all the other existential crises. But not for Louis. By some grace of God, he had it all down and going for him. In fact, Louis should probably give people lessons on how to achieve the bliss and dope life that he had.

For one, his grades were all steady A’s and B’s, which was pretty sick considering he’d always struggled when it came to testing. It had a lot to do with the fact that he wasn’t trying to balance course work with a part time job to financially fund for himself. His late grandma graciously left him and all his siblings and cousins a bit of money before she passed, and Louis was using that to get by. More so, his parents were able to pay for his school tuition as well without him having to be in debt after he graduated.

Aside from all that, he also had _amazing_ best friends. Liam and Zayn were Louis’ ride or dies. The three of them together were unstoppable, inseparable, and very annoying. That was probably why no one else ever hung out with them, but Louis didn’t mind because he did have one other special person in his life -- Isaac.

♡

“We’re here,” Zayn announced, pulling into a parking spot in front of the Olive Garden. He was the only one in the group who had a car, so naturally he was the one they all relied on when they wanted to head somewhere off campus. Penn State only had a few choices when they wanted to dine and Louis was getting tired of eating Panda Express every night.

Climbing out of the passenger seat, Louis stretched his arms above his head, watching as Liam, Sophia, and Gigi got out of the backseat. Tonight they were all doing their bi-weekly triple date that Sophia had suggested they start doing a few months ago. Except Louis’ date hadn’t shown up yet. Not that Louis was annoyed or anything. Isaac was in his last year at Penn State and he had a lot of other things on his plate, like stuff with his fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, and trying to find a job for once he graduated. Louis understood that he was getting a bit too busy to show up on time for their triple dates, but he did feel like he was fifth wheeling a bit. Gigi and Zayn were rather intense and Liam and Sophia behaved like an old married couple. Without Isaac there to distract Louis, he had to bear witness to their weird romance dynamics.  

“When’s Isaac getting here, Lou?” Liam asked as though he was able to hear Louis’ thoughts.

“Should be soon,” Louis replied. “He told me he was going to leave as soon as his chapter meeting at the frat ended. We should go inside, though, and wait for a table.”

The group agreed and followed him inside where Louis asked for a table of six. It took twenty minutes for them to be seated and another fifteen before they ordered their food. During this time, they all caught up, although they already knew the happenings of each other's lives pretty well. While Louis, Liam, and Zayn had known each other since high school, Gigi and Sophia fit in quite seamlessly into their group despite having known them all for only a year or so. Both the girls were Fashion majors and best friends. They’d met Liam and Zayn at some sorority party and started dating sometime after. What was great was that they also grew close to Louis as well. Mostly because they were at the three boys’ flat so much and ended up hanging out with him when their boyfriends weren’t there.

Louis was pleased his two best friends were so secure in their relationships. It hadn’t always been smooth sailing at first. When they first met, Zayn and Gigi started out as friends with benefits, each hiding their feelings for one another until the pining got to be too much. Sophia and Liam, who were poles apart what with Liam being more outgoing while Sophia was a bit of an introvert, used to get into a lot of fights until they came to a compromise. Both couples had since resolved their issues and were doing much better.  It was nice that all three of them were happily in love.

Speaking of which, Isaac arrived when the breadsticks, salad, and drinks came, apologizing as he did so. “I am so sorry,” he breathed out, slumping down in his seat beside Louis in the outer corner of the booth. “The meeting ran later than I thought.”

“Don’t worry, babe,” Louis appeased him, drinking in his boyfriend’s face. They hadn’t seen each other in two days and Louis was starting to have withdrawals. Damn responsibilities. “You haven’t missed much. Appetizers just got here, but you should probably order something now if you want to eat with us.”

Isaac beamed at Louis, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before rattling off his order to their waiter.

♡

When Louis first met Isaac, Louis landed him in the health center.

It was an innocent accident that took place two years ago when Louis was a freshman, one that Louis couldn’t have helped. He was stepping out of his lecture hall, taking notice of the rain downpouring on all the students who were rushing to their classes on campus. He cursed at the sky, reaching into his bag for his umbrella, but that thing had never worked properly and Louis kept forgetting to buy a new one. Regardless, he wanted to get to the campus coffee shop without being dripping wet, so Louis attempted to open the umbrella, only it wasn’t cooperating. Somehow, it slipped out of Louis’ hands, and flew backward, hitting a very handsome, dashing boy right in the crotch.

“Oh, shit,” Louis mumbled, moving closer as the boy grabbed his nutsack, wincing in pain. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry. Fuck, are you alright?”

The boy bit his lip, nodding, through tears in his eyes. “Just peachy.”

“I’m so sorry,” Louis repeated, his eyes taking in the soft swoop of his dirty blond hair as well as the speckles of gold in his hazel eyes. Jesus Christ.

“It’s fine,” the boy managed to smile, though, it looked more like a grimace. “Honestly. Was a mistake, I presume.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis nodded. “My umbrella’s a piece of shit. It doesn’t work. But I definitely think you should go to the health center.”

The boy contemplated that for a second before agreeing. “I think you’re right.”

“I’ll take you,” Louis offered. “I feel awful about this.”

“You don’t have to do that. It’s honestly okay.”

“No, please, let me.”

The boy finally relented and let Louis walk him all the way to the health center on campus. They talked during the ten minute walk, learning more about each other. The boy’s name was Isaac; he was a sophomore studying Marketing, which excited both of them because Louis was studying Advertising. He recently joined a fraternity and was loving every second of it. He was also a lacrosse player, which explained his top notch physique. Lastly, he was single, which made asking him for his number that much easier for Louis when they said goodbye in front of the health center. But, of course, Louis said he only wanted it to keep in touch and make sure Isaac was alright.

Initially, that was what they texted about for the first couple of days. Louis asked how Isaac was and Isaac said he was fine, and thankfully, there wasn’t any damage. Then the days following, they just continued to text. Texts turned into actual meetings, and pretty soon, they had a blossoming and flirty, friendship. But it took a while before things transitioned into something more. Isaac dated around and Louis pined for him, acting as though he didn’t feel anything for his friend. It was so confusing, too, because when Isaac got drunk he’d act like he liked Louis back. It wasn’t until a drunken hookup that Isaac finally gave into his feelings. It felt almost too good to be true when Isaac asked Louis out on a date. It was even better when the date went amazing and they solidified their relationship over the last two years.

Isaac was Louis’ first _super serious boyfriend_. He’d had flings and stuff before him during high school, but Isaac was the _real deal_. He seemed perfect in every sense, so much so that Louis often believed that his own mother liked Isaac more than she liked Louis. Louis met Isaac’s parents, too, and they were just as lovely as him. In Louis’ head, the two of them were the picture perfect, idealistic college sweethearts every movie had and everyone dreamed of being. And Louis really prioritized their relationship. He wanted it to work because he wanted this for the long run.

♡

Louis ate his weight in the endless pasta bowl he ordered, gorging on breadsticks and salad as well, so by the time the waiter came to their table with a check, he was half lying on top of Isaac, eyes drooping from the food coma he was experiencing. Isaac covered his and Louis’ part of the bill, his arm still snug around the other boy, leaning over every so often to whisper something sweet in his ear.

The triple date went pretty well as it always did even though Isaac wasn't really officially a member of their little friend group. He didn't hang out with them all the time. In fact, Louis spent more time with Gigi and Sophia than Isaac did with the boys. It was mostly because Isaac always had something going on, but it didn’t mean he never made an effort to get to know them. Over the years, they’d have sporadic hang outs, and now group dates like this, that made Louis feel happy knowing that even though his boyfriend was busy, he still made time for his friends. Though, it would be nice if Isaac was a little closer to them, since they meant so much to Louis. Louis knew all of Isaac’s friends at the frat and on the lacrosse team.

But Louis made do with nights like these where conversation flowed and they laughed over good Italian chain food. He hoped that wherever Isaac ended up after he graduated, he was still up for triple date nights or boys nights at Louis’ apartment with Liam and Zayn.

“We all set to go?” Isaac asked once the waiter came by and collected their check.

“What’s the rush?” Gigi smirked. “Eager to head back home with Lou?”

Louis narrowed his eyes at Gigi, but Isaac only laughed good naturedly. “Nah, was thinking of going for a walk.” He looked at Louis. “What do you say? Are you up for a stroll through the park?”

“With you, anything,” Louis responded quietly.

The whole table cooed affectionately at that while Isaac smiled and bopped Louis’ nose. Maybe he wasn't as quiet as he thought. Isaac slid out of the booth, letting Louis out as well. They gathered their things and headed toward Zayn’s car in the parking lot.

“I’ll go with Isaac and meet you guys back at the apartment,” Louis told Liam and Zayn.

“Alright,” Liam said. “See you soon.”

Louis waved goodbye to his friends as they climbed into Zayn’s old ‘91 Buick LeSabre, following Isaac to his car, a much newer model of Jeep that his parents got him for his 21st birthday. The two of them drove to Sunset Park while listening to John Lennon sing about love, parking the car on the street before getting out to walk in hand in hand. Park lamps lit up the way and Louis felt at ease being where he was. It was just what he needed, too, after all the food he ate. Good to burn down a few calories and walk off the excess since it was starting to give him a stomach ache.

“How was your day?” Louis asked Isaac. He’d been quiet so far and Louis knew that whenever Isaac got too quiet, he always had a lot on his mind. Otherwise he was constant chatter, talking about the most mundane things. That was why he and Louis got along so well -- they never shut up around each other and the conversations were always bouncing back and forth.

Isaac smiled as he answered. “It was good. Did some homework and then had the chapter meeting. There’s a party going on at the frat right now.”

“Oh, is there?”

“Yeah. I was going to head over after this.”

“Did you remember to lock your room?” Louis asked, quirking a smile. “Because you know what happened that one time.”

Isaac chuckled. “How could I forget? It’s burned into my memory forever.”

Louis laughed, leaning close to Isaac. Since Isaac started living in the frat house a year ago, he had to always remember to close his bedroom door during parties. Horny, intoxicated partygoers were always on the hunt for a room to hook up in. One unfortunate night, Isaac forgot to lock it and found a threesome happening right over his new sheets. He went ballistic after, ranting to Louis about it for days. In the end, he didn’t even want to keep the sheets, opting to throw them out, no matter how many times Louis told him to just wash them in hot water.

“To answer your question, I did lock my door,” Isaac said. “I was planning on going to the party right after dinner, but thought this was would be nice.”

“It is,” Louis assured him.

“I’ve just got a bit on my mind,” Isaac shrugged. “Been thinking a lot, you know? About us.”

Louis slowed his pace slightly. “Okay.”

“We’ve been together for most of my college career,” Isaac went on. “And most of yours, too.”

Louis nodded, not sure where Isaac was going with this. For some reason, he had a feeling it would go one of two ways -- either really good or really bad. He just wasn’t sure which extreme it was.

“And it’s been awesome because I love you and you’re one of the closest people in my life. I know you inside out and vice versa, obviously. Spending time with you has been so special, really. I just -- I feel like I need to find myself a bit more, you know?”

Louis frowned, staring straight ahead at a big oak tree by a park bench. “That makes sense in a way, yeah,” he said, letting the words drip slowly out of his mouth. He still wasn’t sure where Isaac was going with this and that was starting to trouble him.

“I’m glad you think so, Lou,” Isaac let out a relieved laugh. “It’s something that’s been nagging me for a while. I think that in order for me to find myself and all, I’d need to be on my own. Which is what I needed to really talk to you about.” He paused, even the air around them quiet. “I want to just be friends right now.”

There were very few moments in Louis’ life when he felt blindsided, such as the time his mom told him she was pregnant with a second set of twins, or the time Liam beat Louis in FIFA (but that was only because Louis was sick with a fever and he wasn’t concentrating as much as he should have). However, he had never been as blindsided as he currently was. Because usually breakups came with signs. It was led up to with fights, animosity, unhappiness. But there were no signs here. Louis just felt like he’d been hit with a bag of bricks, brought into a reality he never wanted to be a part of.

Louis stopped walking and faced Isaac to search his face for _something_. Anything that would hint as to why he was suddenly doing this when they were fine all this time. He thought back to the last few days, weeks, and even months when they were together to find a single moment that may have led to this, but Louis was at a blank. He didn’t understand at all.

“Isaac,” Louis breathed out. “I don’t -- I don’t quite understand.”

“I know, I know,” Isaac said softly, his voice soothing as he moved closer. Louis moved a step back. “I know you’re confused, but you have to understand that this has nothing to do with you. It’s me -- it’s all me. I just need to be on my own to figure myself out, you know? At least for a while.”

“You can’t figure yourself out because you’re with me?” Louis questioned, almost laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of this all.

“Being a unit, like you and I have been, I don’t think I can. Don’t you understand? Being in a relationship, you’re bound to someone and I’d like to not be tied down for a bit and just be.”

When he put it like that, what was Louis even meant to say? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t know how to properly react nor did he have anything substantial to say to Isaac because his mind was drawing a complete blank. So Louis nodded, whispering, “okay.”

With that, he turned around, his pace quickening as he let his legs carry him all the way back to his apartment. Isaac called out to him for a while, he even followed Louis a bit, but Louis only sped up. All he could think about was the way Isaac had fallen in love with him these past two years, and now, he was suddenly not so in love. And somehow, Louis was never given the notice nor clued into the fact that it was over until the very end, leaving him falling down onto the ground all alone.

♡

The days that followed were probably some of Louis’ lowest. He’d never had a proper breakup with anyone, at least not with someone like Isaac, who was a significant part of his life. His previous flings and hookups were nice and all, but they didn’t hold the emotional bond that Isaac did with Louis. They were together for over two years, for crying out loud. Louis was a _mess_.

His friends did their best in trying to be there for him. Liam and Zayn periodically checked on him in between their classes and social life while Louis wallowed alone in his bedroom, sunk deep beneath his sheets and duvet, while Gigi and Sophia brought over mint chocolate chip ice cream everyday. It helped knowing he had people on his side, but he couldn’t bring himself to properly talk about it other than telling them that Isaac broke up with him. He still couldn’t understand it himself. None of it made sense. Not what Isaac was trying to say or why he suddenly wanted to breakup when there was nothing wrong. Perhaps Louis ran off too quickly to fully give Isaac a chance to clear up the confusion, but Louis didn’t see the breakup coming and he was devastated. He couldn’t stand there a moment longer.

So he cried in bed at nights and he wallowed for days, letting it all come out before he could get back to civilization and try to figure out what the next steps would be because suddenly Louis felt a little lost. He and Isaac weren’t necessarily co-dependant. They lived separately and didn’t do many sleepovers. They ran in different circles and spent the majority of their school breaks with their own families. But it was just the the feeling of not having a boyfriend that Louis was trying to get used to.

Isaac was a really good one, too. He took care of Louis, was always sweet to him, and he was experienced in bed. He made Louis feel wanted and special and Louis missed that. He missed Isaac and everything they were before that night.

With all these depressing thoughts taking up space in his head, it came as a relief when he got to head home to Boston for the weekend for his parents 25th wedding anniversary. A change of scenery and being back home with his family would take his mind off of things, or that was what Liam and Sophia said while looking at Louis with big, brown concerned eyes. He took their word for it and hopped on the three hour plane ride, listening to that really depressing James Bay song on repeat. He may have shed a tear or two or million.

Upon arriving to his house, his mom greeted him at the door with hugs and kisses. “Oh, honey, you look awful,” she said.

“Thanks, Mom,” Louis grumbled, dropping his bags by the door and following her into the kitchen.

There were decorators and caterers crawling all over the place, getting it set up for the big bash. It wasn’t a surprise they were starting a day early because their house was massive. It was based in one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Boston, and Louis grew up pretty comfortably. His dad’s textile business in Europe had really taken off from a young age after he took over from Louis’ grandfather, and it made for a nice life for Louis and his seven siblings.

“How are you holding up? Zayn’s been updating me, of course, but I need to hear from you as well,” his mom said, scurrying around the kitchen, taking out some bread and peanut butter spread -- Louis’ favorite kind of sandwich.

“Why is Zayn updating you on my well-being? You could just call and ask me.”

“Well, you’re not as inclined to talk to me about this stuff, are you?”

“I’m not inclined to talk to anyone about this, thanks.”

“Oh, Louis,” his mom sighed sadly. She’d popped the slices of bread in the toaster, waiting for it to pop back out, warm and crunchy. “Talking it out would help, but I understand everyone grieves in different ways.”

“Mom, Isaac didn’t die. He just wants to be friends, or whatever.”

“You know what I mean, Lou! Breakups are hard. Especially when they’re from long relationships ending. I know you had big dreams for you and Isaac, but things always happen for a reason and down the road, you’ll learn why this had to happen.”

Louis watched as his mom took out the slices of bread from the toaster and spread creamy peanut butter over it, and he couldn’t help but smile. She may have a point, but more than that, he just liked that he was home. Isaac couldn’t hurt him here. He was surrounded by his family, the safe walls of the place he grew up in, and all of those worries were far away in State College.

Right now, all that mattered was that Louis had a good time celebrating his parents’ long life together, bothering his siblings the few days he was there, and sleeping in past ten in the morning.

♡

“You’re sulking,” Lottie pointed out, sidling up beside Louis.

He’d been sitting by the bar, taking champagne flutes one after another, getting steadily tipsy as time went on. The anniversary party was in full swing. Guests were mingling, the DJ was playing an array of songs dating back to when his parents first got married to current hits, and there were hors d'oeuvres being passed out by the cater-waiters.

“I am not,” Louis defied pathetically, even though he knew his lips were downturned and his eyes were downcast.

“You are,” Lottie insisted. She looked beautiful, dressed up in a long silver dress that matched her current hair color. Her face was made up to absolute perfection and looking at her made Louis realize that she probably had her life together way more than he did. Which was just -- super fucking funny considering just a few days ago he was gloating about how he had it all figured out. Then his boyfriend blindsided him and broke up with him to _find himself_ , or whatever. So yeah.

Louis sighed heavily. “Fine. I am sulking.”

Lottie put her arm around him in a half hug. “You shouldn’t. Isaac did you wrong and when people do you wrong you just have to rise higher than that. Once you do, Isaac can’t touch you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Louis asked, narrowing his eyes at his younger sister. “I’ve no idea what you just said.”

“I’m saying fuck Isaac,” Lottie explained. “Like, he doesn’t deserve you if he just dropped you for no reason, you know? And you shouldn’t let it get to you or define you in any way because you are way more than that. Once the sadness passes, which it will soon, then you can move on and grow from it. Isaac won’t even matter in the grand scheme of things.”

“But he does,” Louis told her. “Isaac was a huge part of my life for the past two years and it’s not so easy to just be, like, over it, Lots. We were in a serious relationship. It wasn’t puppy love.”

Lottie looked at him sadly, and it made Louis feel sick that people actually felt bad for him. He was a proud person, for lack of a better way of saying it. He never wanted anyone to pity him and yet everyone he’d come across the past few days had. He hated that. Being proud was the reason why he was so willing to let Isaac do whatever it was he needed to to find himself. If Louis hadn’t been the way he was then he’d have put up a fight and questioned Isaac. He’d have fought for their relationship.

“I just want you to be okay,” Lottie finally said.

“I will be,” Louis replied. “I’m going to be just fine. I just need to let this pass, is all. I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

Lottie patted his back before getting up and walking over to her boyfriend, Tommy, who was helping himself over at the buffet table. The guy was taller than Louis and that bothered him a bit, but it didn’t stop him from giving the big brother talk toward the beginning of their relationship. It felt good because Tommy looked pretty scared of Louis, which hiked up his ego substantially.

Louis reached for another flute of champagne as a cater-waiter passed and considered giving Liam or Zayn a call to ask how they were putting up without him when one of Louis’ younger cousins walked over to him. “Hey Nancy,” Louis smiled, waving at the five year old. “You look really nice.”

“Thanks,” Nancy beamed, lifting two ends of her dress to present it to him better. “My mom and I got it from Nordstrom.”

“It’s a great choice.”

“I like your tie.”

Louis looked down at his light blue tie. “Thanks. Fizzy says it brings out my eyes.”

“It does,” Nancy grinned. “I bet your boyfriend loves it. Is he here with you? I miss Isaac. Haven’t seen him around in so long.”

Louis’ smile fell right off his face. He couldn’t keep doing this. He couldn’t have every single one of his family members come up to him and bring up Isaac because this wasn’t what it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be forgetting Isaac and _attempting_ to try and clear his head, but he honestly couldn’t anymore.

“He couldn't make it, no,” Louis shook his head, letting out a shuddering breath. “I miss him, too.”

Nancy pranced off toward the other kids, leaving Louis feeling gutted and woozy from all the champagne. Instead of getting up and grabbing something to eat from the buffet, Louis opted to go inside and up to his room. Thankfully, there was no one upstairs, and Louis was able to lie back on his bed and just breathe.

God, Louis was tired. He didn’t even want to cry anymore. He just wanted to feel okay. He wanted to not be filled with this wretched heartbreaking feeling in his chest. How could Isaac do this to him? Two fucking years they were together and he just fucking broke Louis’ heart. What did it all mean in the end? Why was it so easy for him to just end it?

Louis didn’t know and he wasn’t going to call up and ask. He wasn’t _that_ pathetic. So he picked up his phone, opening the Photos app before scrolling through old photos of Isaac and himself. Louis was just _slightly_ pathetic.

♡

Zayn threw open Louis’ bedroom door, making him jump in his spot in bed, buried under the covers with his laptop open beside him while _500 Days of Summer_ played on it. Louis clutched at his chest, staring at Zayn, both furious and startled.

“You know what you need!” Zayn bellowed excitedly.

“What the _hell_ is the matter with you?”

“You need to get drunk!” Zayn finished, looking pleased with himself.

“No, I don’t,” Louis refuted, pulling his covers up more. “I need to lay in bed, watch depressing movies, and wallow. And I need you to get out of my room, you _freak_.”

“Lou,” Zayn pleaded, walking closer to the bed and sitting down beside Louis. “I’m worried, okay? We’re all really fucking worried. It’s been more than two weeks and you’ve been so fucking depressing to be around.”

Louis huffed, affronted. “Well, excuse me for not being my normal delightful self. It’s not like I’m not going through something awful or anything, like a fucking breakup.”

“We get it, though. We get that you’re going through something tough, but this is unlike you. You’re not this guy. You’re not the guy who lies in his bed all day and watches sad rom-coms. You’re the guy who wallows for a _few_ days then moves on!”

“Well, maybe I’m not that guy anymore,” Louis grumbled, scooting further away from Zayn and crossing his arms. He was so over people telling him how to feel. He didn’t need that. He knew what he was feeling and he wasn’t going to bottle it up simply because everyone thought it was unlike him.

Zayn looked at him quietly for a moment. “Please just come out with us. Gigi’s taking us all to her friend Eleanor’s party. It’s supposed to be really good. Nothing crazy, just a chill party.”

“I don’t feel like going to a party, though.”

“Too bad because you’re coming with us anyway.”

“I want to see you make me,” Louis said petulantly as he got further comfortable.  

♡

Thirty minutes later, Louis was pouting aggressively as all of his friends held onto him and dragged him to the stupid house party happening a few blocks away from campus. He didn’t understand why he had to go -- he didn’t even know this Eleanor girl Gigi was gushing about. She was supposedly this Journalism student that Gigi met during a statistics course last semester and they’d hit it off.

When they got to the apartment, Zayn finally let go of Louis’ hand to observe their surroundings. The apartment was pretty tiny, but well decorated. There were random, minimalist paintings hung on the walls and tiny indoor plants everywhere Louis looked. As they walked further inside, moving through the crowds of people chatting, Louis tried to see if he could recognize anybody, but everyone there seemed unfamiliar. Did Eleanor even go to their school? It wasn’t like a usual crazy college party either. As Zayn said, it was super chill. The music wasn’t loud or blaring, but high enough that a few people were dancing in the living room. No one was making out or groping each other. It almost seemed _sophisticated_.

Louis wasn’t used to this. He stood around, taking in the small groups settled around the apartment, while Zayn excused himself for a moment. Gigi rushed over to one girl, tall, long brown hair, and a doe eyed face, and hugged her in greeting. Sophia walked over as well, Liam trailing behind her. Louis wanted to assume that was Eleanor, but he didn’t care enough to go over and introduce himself. He didn’t even want to be there. The only good thing was the song playing. It was an upbeat alternative track that Louis really wanted to know.

“Drink up,” Zayn said, walking over to Louis with a red cup in his hand. “You need to get drunk, okay? Like smashed.”

“What kind of backward advice is this, Zayn? I don’t understand,” Louis said.

Zayn groaned, looking at Louis with a soft frown. “Do you know what Isaac is doing tonight?”

Louis shook his head. “I haven’t checked all of his social media today yet.” It was a thing he’d been doing since they’d broken up. It was usually the same thing -- Instagram of Isaac playing lacrosse that he made a teammate capture, a Snapchat of some stupid frat thing, and occasionally a shared Facebook post of a funny meme. Nothing significant.

But not according to Zayn, who quickly pulled out his phone and opened up Instagram, typing Isaac’s username. He opened the recent photo and turned it to show Louis. Louis’ frown deepened as he took in the picture. It was one posted about an hour ago of Isaac at the frat house, doing shots with his friends, grinning and happy.

It stung. It was such a simple thing, yet it stung because it showed that while Isaac was out there, clearly, completely fine after the break up, Louis was here moping at a house party where everyone was having a good time. Had it been pre-breakup, Louis would have been introducing himself to everyone here, having a good time and dancing to this bomb ass music (whoever the DJ was, was doing an amazing job). Isaac was out there finding himself and Louis was here losing himself.

And fuck that, really. Fuck moping because Louis was too good for that. He didn’t need to mope for someone who wasn’t all that bothered about losing Louis in the first place. Louis looked down at his red cup and then gulped down whatever Zayn had given him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and handed Zayn the cup back. “Gimme another. I’m getting fucked tonight.”

Zayn grinned, walking to the kitchen, presumably to get Louis another drink. The song changed then, one with an upbeat ‘80s pop sound that had Louis swaying in his spot in the middle of the living room. A few people around him were dancing, too, throwing their hands up, so Louis decided to just go with it.

_Somebody said you got a new friend_

_Does she love you better than I can?_

_There's a big black sky over my town_

_I know where you're at, I bet she's around_

“Here’s your drink,” Zayn said, coming up behind Louis. “This Irish guy made it, so should be stronger.”

Louis took the cup from Zayn, sloshing the contents around a bit before drinking it. “This song is so good,” Louis told Zayn. “I want to know who the DJ is.”

_And yeah, I know it's stupid_

_But I just gotta see it for myself_

Zayn looked around the living room, shrugging. “I think they just set up a playlist, Lou. Anyway. Drink. Have fun. Be merry and mingle. But please don’t mope!”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Louis saluted with his other hand before throwing it up in the air and dancing to the song.

 _I'm in the corner, watching you kiss her,_ oh oh oh

 _I'm right over here, why can't you see me,_ oh oh oh

 _And I'm giving it my all, but I'm not the guy you're taking home,_ ooh

_I keep dancing on my own_

♡

Louis was in his fucking zone that night, dancing around the small living room dance floor while his friends passed him drinks as he finished one after another. He was really fucking drunk at this point, which was his goal once he decided to go out. It was _great._ For the first time in weeks, Louis felt _good_. He felt loose and free, his body not being able to stop moving to the beat. He _really_ needed to find the person who owned this playlist.

After letting Sophia twerk on him during one song, Louis set out to the kitchen for another drink. He hadn’t seen Zayn or Liam for a bit and his cup was empty since Liam last refilled it. His feet barely made it though, stumbling over things as he staggered into the brightly lit kitchen. There were some people sitting around the small, square table by the window, chatting over their cigarettes lit between their lips and fingers, and adjacent to them were the counters, stove, and fridge.

Louis cheered out loud when he saw how loaded with alcohol one of the counters was. He seemed to have startled someone who was standing beside it, someone who Louis completely missed when he first walked in. He was tall with big, brown hair, and also big, green eyes. Everything was _big_.

“Hi,” Louis said to him, approaching the counter slowly so as to not trip on the way over. He didn’t want this guy knowing Louis was such a sloppy drunk, but he also didn’t know why it mattered to him what this guy thought.  

“Hey,” he responded, voice deep. “Do you want me to get you a drink?” He gestured to the array of bottles laid out.

“Yes,” Louis said, handing him his red cup. “Make me what Liam made me.”

The guy frowned softly as he took the cup. “I’m sorry, I don’t know who Liam is.”

“Oh, he’s at this party. Somewhere. His girlfriend just twerked all over me,” Louis told him matter of factly.

“Oh, wow. Cool.”

Louis gaped at him for a moment, especially his barely there white t-shirt through which you could see his nipples and inked up chest. He was _something else_. Louis was _very_ curious _._ “I’m Louis, by the way.”

“Harry,” he smiled, crookedly, cheek dimpling.

“You’ve got a really nice face,” Louis complimented.

Harry seemed a bit taken by that, smiling even wider. “You, too. Are you sure you don’t want me to make you a drink?”

“I mean, if you insist,” Louis said, lifting himself up on an empty counter. “Mind you, I’m already really fucking drunk.”

“Yeah?” Harry chuckled, glancing over to him as he worked through the bottles, trying to find the ones he wanted to mix in. “Are you having a good time?”

Louis nodded eagerly. “Loads. I’ve been dancing my ass off to this playlist. I need to find whoever it belongs to so that I can marry them.”

Harry cleared his throat, smiling softly. “That would be me.”

“Oh my God,” Louis grinned. “That’s your playlist playing?”

Harry nodded. “It’s my party mix.”

“It’s amazing. Let’s get married.”

They laughed as Harry handed him his drink. “Which ones did you like the best?”

“All of them, to be honest. There was one playing when I walked in, something about wanting to get better.”

“Do you mean ‘I Wanna Get Better’ by the Bleachers?” Harry asked.

“Yes, that one. I _really_ liked that one.”

“Sweet. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Aren’t you?” Louis asked him, taking a sip. It tasted a bit sweet, even better than whatever Liam made.

“I am,” Harry replied. “But hosting a party feels like a responsibility more than anything. I want to make sure everyone’s having a good time before I have a good time.”

“Oh, do you live here?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, with my friend Eleanor.”

“My friend’s girlfriend is friends with Eleanor,” Louis explained. “That’s how I got here. My friends think I needed a night out to get drunk and make reckless decisions.”

Harry smiled curiously. “Why’s that?”

“I’ve recently gotten dumped by my boyfriend of two years and I’ve just been so fucking down,” Louis laughed, even though it wasn’t laughing matter.

“That sucks,” Harry told him quietly, his voice sympathetic. “I’m sorry you’re having to go through this. Breakups suck.”

“It does!” Louis exclaimed. “It’s honestly so shitty. Like, let me tell you what fucking happened.”

For the next twenty or so minutes, Louis ranted about Isaac. He told Harry all about how they met, how happy they were, and how Louis thought it was all going to end -- him and Isaac getting married and adopting a billion babies while residing in their lovely suburban home with respectable careers and jobs. He told him about the days leading up to the breakup and how it went down.

“What sucks is that I never even got a proper reason as to why he wanted to break up and why he suddenly wanted to ‘find himself’ without me, you know?” Louis went on. “I just know that one night out of nowhere he was done and yeah, I sort of left him before he could explain himself, but he hasn’t reached out since. So I’m guessing he’s really over it. Plus tonight he’s partying with his frat, which hurts because I’ve been so down in the dumps meanwhile he’s having fun.”

“I can’t believe it,” Harry shook his head, expression of disbelief on his face. “How does someone just suddenly be done with everything after spending two years together?”

Harry was a really good listener. He had all the right reactions and he wasn’t just listening, he actually offered his input and made it a mutual conversation. Louis was eating it all up, indulging himself. While he loved his friends, he wanted a new outlet, someone who wasn’t on the in when it all happened, and Harry was it.

“Beats me,” Louis sighed, leaning back against the wall. His drink was finished and Harry was in the process of making him another. Just then, Liam appeared at the doorway, his eyes perking up when they landed on Louis.

“There you are,” he said. “We’ve been looking for you.”

“I’ve been here with Harry,” Louis told him. “He’s been making me drinks and listening to my troubles.”

Liam offered Harry a meek smile. “Sorry about him. He’s drunk. I hope he didn’t chat your ear off too much.”

“I’m not a child, Liam,” Louis glared. “It was a mutual conversation. I wasn’t being a pain. Right, Harry?”

Harry agreed. “Yeah, it’s cool.”

“I just meant that you can talk to any of us about how you’re feeling,” Liam explained to Louis. “Not strangers.”

“Harry’s not a stranger. We’re friends once removed.”

At that, Harry let out a loud laugh, prompting both Liam and Louis to turn to him. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “Was a bit funny.”

Louis grinned, turning to look at Liam, who smiled at him fondly. “I think I need to be drunker. This has been so great.”

“I’m glad,” Liam said, handing over the drink Harry made.

And that was the last thing Louis remembered from that night.

♡

Despite Louis’ love life falling apart, the rest of his life continued on as though no such thing happened, and that included school. Louis had missed a few classes when he and Isaac first broke up, but then his mom called him and ranted to him about slacking off because of how high tuition was.

“I’m not paying sixty grand a year for you to miss classes and not do well,” she said to him, half angry, half consoling, because she knew he was still upset.

So Louis went back to his classes and he had a pile of work waiting for him. One of which included a research paper for his Composition class. They had to pick topics based off a list, and at least two of the resources had to be from _actual books_. It was completely unreasonable and Louis didn’t know how this professor was serious. No one researched from books anymore when they had google at their fingertips. But Louis still went to the university’s library, a place he didn’t really frequent, three days before the paper was due. He entered and looked around the high walls and shelves of books. There were tables set out around the floor, students sitting in front of their computers or buried in their textbooks. Louis ventured off toward the books, in search of a resource for his topic -- the marketplace in Asia.

He found himself browsing the geography section first, looking through the books about continents, countries, cities, and their history. There was a whole stack about Asia, so Louis looked through each, trying to find one that talked about the business and marketplace, but the first book he opened had giant dicks drawn across the inside of the front page. Louis gaped, almost offended that someone would do this to a school book, when he heard snickering from behind him. Louis slammed the book shut and turned to find Harry stifling laughs behind his fist.

It had been a week since the party and Harry had crossed Louis’ mind at least once a day. After all, he spent the better part of the night laughing along with the other boy, who seemed a lot more sharper now that Louis wasn’t looking at him with drunk, hazy eyes. His hair was a soft chocolate brown color, quiffed up, and curly at the ends. His eyes were the brightest green, and his lips the softest shade of pale pink. He was very pretty, looking even better with normal, sober eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Louis asked him, a whisper of a smile on his face. “Sneaking up on me like that isn’t cool. I nearly had a heart attack.”

“Sorry,” Harry replied. “I was on the second floor by the railing and I saw you come in, so I came down to say hi to you. How are you? How was your hangover?”

Louis grimaced. “It’s still here. I swear, my headache didn’t go away for three days afterwards.”

Harry winced. “Sorry. You were pretty out of it, though. Do you remember much from that night? I mean, clearly, you do if you remember who I am.”

“I remember who you are,” Louis laughed. “I mean, I recall some parts, but others seem a bit blurry.”

“Do you remember the part where you begged me to play ‘Cha Cha Slide’ for fifteen minutes and when I finally did, you were passed out?”

“No...that’s --” Louis groaned. “I’m sorry. I’m an annoying drunk.”

“Don’t apologize. I enjoyed spending time with you. You were _very_ entertaining.”

“Stop gassing me,” Louis shushed him, not being able to help the smile on his face. “I distinctly remember talking about my breakup with you for a good half hour. I’m sure I wasn’t that entertaining.”

“You don’t have to feel bad about that,” Harry insisted. “I honestly had no problem talking to you. I’m glad you came and had fun.”

Louis watched Harry for a moment. There was something very sincere and genuine about him. Like what he was saying had substance to it and he actually meant it. There weren’t many people like that anymore and Louis felt something tug at his chest for the curly haired boy. Which was strange because they only just met and most of their interactions was with Louis being drunk as shit. Harry was nice, though, and Louis can definitely see the two of them being friends and hanging out. He was also very easy on the eyes.

“Thanks,” Louis finally said with a small smile. “Anyway, what were you doing here?”

“Homework,” Harry answered. “I’ve got a class in an hour and didn’t get a chance to complete the assignment for it.”

“Shit,” Louis mumbled. “What major are you?”

“Journalism, like Eleanor. We’re sophomores.”

“Right...Eleanor. Your roomie slash friend.”

“Yeah, that’s the one. What about you?”

“‘M a junior. I’m majoring in Advertising. Have a paper due actually, in, like, three days. My professor wants us to research from actual books like we’re still in the Stone Age.”

Harry laughed out loud at that, eyes lighting up. “Alright, so I’ll leave you to it and possibly see you around?”

Louis nodded a few times, eagerly. “Yeah, for sure.”

They waved to each other, smiles lingering on their faces before Louis was left alone with a book full of dicks drawn on it.

♡

“So, I’ve been hearing stuff,” Gigi announced.

The whole table looked at her, waiting for her to continue, but she watched Louis cautiously. They were all having lunch at the university’s dining hall and Louis really just wanted to focus on his burger, but he couldn’t when Gigi was being all ominous.

“What stuff?” he finally asked her, clearly picking up on the fact that it had something to do with him.

“Rumors about Isaac,” she went on before stopping and picking at her salad. Fashion majors were always so weird. They always either ate junk food or never ate anything but salads. They also always knew all the gossip about everyone. Gigi was a font of rumors and gossip about the people in their school. For some reason, she was always the first person who knew the latest on everyone.

Louis bit into his burger, ketchup dribbling past lips, which he dabbed up with his fry, popping that into his mouth as well. “What kind of stuff?”

“Well, you know my friend Cara, right?” Gigi asked. Louis shrugged, the name sounding familiar, but not being able to put a face to it. “Well Cara told me the boys in Pi Kappa Alpha have a bet going around.”

“A bet?” Liam asked. “What kind of bet?” He had a worried expression on his face, as though he wasn’t liking where this was going.

Louis felt indifferent, or so he told himself. He’d been trying to work on moving on from Isaac, and he wasn’t appreciating Gigi bringing him up. The goal was to stop thinking about him and it was a daily thing that took a lot of effort. But curiosity was getting the best of him -- he wanted to know about this bet Gigi and Cara were talking about.

Gigi nodded to Liam. “Yeah, this 10,000 pounds bet.”

“What is that?” Sophia asked her, munching on her berry salad.

“Cara told me that the senior boys in Pi Kappa Alpha have all made a bet that they’re going to sleep with a number of people over the course of the year and try to add up their hook ups weights to a total of 10,000 pounds,” Gigi explained before looking to Louis. “Isaac is participating.”

Louis blinked down at his burger, unable to look up at his friends, all of whom were surely watching him for some reaction. Rumors were rumors, but he knew Gigi wouldn’t pass information like this to him without knowing there was a little truth to it. She might be a nosey little bitch, but she was still his good friend.

Zayn scoffed out loud while Liam said, “That doesn’t sound...right.”

“Yeah, surely some sort of STD might start up somewhere there and pass around. I hope they’re being safe,” Sophia commented.

“Lou,” Gigi said, ignoring their concerns. “I didn’t want to tell you, but I saw some Snapchat stories of Isaac and he seemed to be dancing with some guy. And I just thought you should know. I know if this was happening to me then I’d want to know.”

Before Louis could respond, glancing up to look at everyone, he noticed Harry walk into the dining hall. Now that he knew who Harry was, he’d been spotting him quite often around campus. Sometimes while on the way to class or even in halls, but Louis hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to him since seeing him in the library. It was after he left with a few books in his bag that he realized they never exchanged numbers or anything. Louis tried searching for Harry on Instagram, too, but he didn’t know his last name and he wasn’t going to go through thousands of ‘Harry’ profiles to find the right one.

Louis was just about to call out for Harry and usher him over to their table when he noticed how weird and stealth Harry was behaving. He sidled up to the fruits counter, keeping a watchful eye on everyone in the dining hall while opening up his tan satchel bag. He then grabbed all of the bananas off the bowl and stuffed them in there. Harry promptly shut the bag and then power walked out of the dining hall, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

“Louis, what are you looking at?” Liam asked, waving his hand in front of Louis’ face.

Louis blinked, turning back to his friends, all of whom were watching him with frowns. “Sorry. I just -- I saw someone.”

“Who?” Gigi asked him.

Did Louis just imagine Harry stealing all the bananas? Was his ex-boyfriend really making bets about sleeping around? Was Louis finally losing his mind?

♡

While Louis stood by the fact that he was genuinely trying to move on from Isaac, there was still a niggling part of his brain that couldn’t let go of what Gigi had said at lunch. He hadn’t really reacted much to it when he first heard, opting to avoid his friends’ concerned expressions altogether, but at some point the idea of it really started to sink in. It made a lump form in Louis’ stomach at the thought of Isaac sleeping around so soon after they broke up. He sincerely hoped it was just a rumor, but he wasn’t really sure. The Isaac Louis knew wouldn’t do something like this, but the fact that Gigi had seen things was bothering Louis and he realized he needed to see it for himself as well.

So he begged his friends to go to Pi Kappa Alpha’s Halloween party, all dressed up, so that Louis could see for himself what Isaac had been up to. His friends, bless them, didn’t put up a big fight. They really were a great bunch and Louis was glad he had friends who genuinely wanted to be there for him in any way he needed them to be.

There was a part of him that really hoped this wasn’t true. Surely Louis wasn’t the only one who saw their relationship as real and genuine? They were so good together, but all of a sudden Louis couldn’t tell who Isaac was anymore. It hurt that he wasn’t reaching out to ask Louis how he was doing, either. They spent _two_ years together. Did that mean nothing anymore?

If this ended up being true, then Louis wouldn’t know what to do. He’d be shattered. Knowing that Isaac broke up with him to “find himself” by sleeping around was a serious axe to the heart. And there was also the fact that Louis knew going to this Halloween party was going to be risky. He’d been doing quite well with his moving on process. Seeing Isaac again was surely going to backtrack that, but knowing the truth meant more than that.

Upon arriving, the frat house looked like a giant shit show. It was colossal compared to Harry and Eleanor’s party, where people were chilled out with their drinks, dancing and talking in a low key fashion. This was high key extra on every level. There were people screaming out on the lawn, throwing red cups and toilet paper everywhere. Inside, the group could barely get past the door.

Louis had come dressed as a member of KISS, his face covered in black and white face paint, courtesy of Sophia. He didn’t want anyone at the frat recognizing him because he wasn’t sure yet if he wanted Isaac to know he was coming. He might think Louis was trying to get back together and if Isaac really is back into the swing of things, Louis did not want to seem desperate and sad.

When they finally made it past the door, Zayn put his hand on Louis’ shoulder, catching his attention. “Are you sure?” he asked.

It took Louis a moment to respond. He felt like Zayn knew that what Gigi had said was true, but Louis wasn’t going to blindly take her word for it. Not until he saw it for himself. “Yeah,” he finally said. “Just...grab a drink. Who knows how long it’ll be till I find him.”

“Alright,” Zayn responded. “Text me, please.”

“I will,” Louis said.

With that, Zayn turned around, following their friends into the dining room where the frat had set out snacks and drinks. Louis turned around and headed toward the main room. He was seeking out Isaac mostly, but couldn’t help but take in some familiar faces. He’d grown close to a few of these boys, having spent so much time at the frat house. It sucked that they hadn’t communicated with Louis since the breakup. It was clear they were choosing sides. More so, Louis just felt so detached from this whole group and house now. It’d been a few weeks since the breakup, but even then, he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the fact that this was once a place he came by almost daily.

As Louis maneuvered his way around the party, he couldn’t help but wonder if Isaac showed up at all -  he was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was up in his room, but that was dangerous territory for Louis at the moment. Louis didn’t want to knock, but he was still curious. So he made his way around the house toward the staircase, only to stop short. There, backed up against the wall of the stairs, was Isaac, making out with some guy Louis distinctly remembered from one of his classes freshmen year.

They looked intense, practically clawing at each other’s costumes, and Louis felt like his stomach was going to fall through his ass. Without thinking, he turned around, heading straight for the front door. Once he made it past the people trying to go in, he breathed heavily through his mouth, trying to take in as much as oxygen as he could, before running straight home.


	2. november/december

“How are classes going, Louis?”

Louis stared blankly at his academic advisor, Claire Peterson -- Miss Peterson, as she asked him to call her -- and tried to stay awake. He’d barely gotten three hours of sleep the night before and it was too early to be talking about school, even though that was what he was there for.

“Good. It’s good,” he responded, nodding his head a couple of times for emphasis.

“Nice to hear that,” she said, smiling, not looking away from her computer screen.

He continued to sit there silently as she clicked and typed away. With the cold November breeze came the rush of current students trying to get into their classes for the following Spring semester before all the spots were taken. Louis, like an idiot, forgot about it and was now locked out of a class he really needed to take, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to take the consecutive class the next Fall semester. Desperate to try and find a way in, he made an appointment with Miss Peterson and hoped she was able to squeeze him in. He could possibly try to kiss up to her a bit, ask her about how things are going with her, but small talk was just too much work at this point.

Louis had officially hit rock bottom. Things were, more or less, extremely sucky. He didn’t feel like a person most days because sleep came so scarce some nights and too much other nights. He stopped going out, causing his friends to worry and the shadows under his eyes to grow. He was half-assing through school, doing the bare minimum and hoping it would suffice, and he was really, truly starting to just _give up_. He was upset about Isaac, obviously, and it was clearly taking a toll on him. Everyone was extremely concerned and Louis didn’t bother trying to put up a facade that he was okay. That wasn’t to say he would let this go on forever. Of course, pain subsided as time went on, but right now this was how he was feeling and if it showed then he couldn’t be bothered.

Finally, Miss Peterson looked up. “You’re lucky,” she said, jotting something down on a pink form in front of her. “I got them to open up one more seat for you so you’re in.”

“Wow, thank you so much,” Louis said, giving her a small, appreciative smile.

“No problem. Is there anything else I can do for you? You’re looking a bit tired, if you don’t mind me saying.” She looked concerned, an expression that Louis saw on everyone who looked at him these days.

Louis shook his head, his smile slightly growing. “I’m fine. Just didn’t get much sleep.”

“Alright. Then I’ll see you soon. Good luck with the rest of the semester. And mind sending in my next appointment?”

Louis nodded his head, thanking her one last time before walking out of her office. He stopped in front of the row of students waiting to be called in and told them that whoever was next to go in. As he walked toward the receptionist desk and exit, he noticed a jar full of condoms sitting in front of the guidance counselor’s office.

He hadn’t had sex in a really, fucking long time. It pissed him off because Isaac was out there having sex. He was having a lot of sex. 10,000 pounds worth of people sex. Why wasn’t Louis having sex? Louis should be having sex. After all, it was healthy, normal, and a great tactic to move on from shitty ex-boyfriends. In fact, he was going to. Louis was going to have sex!

Grabbing a handful of condoms from the jar, Louis stuffed them in his jacket pockets, overflowing both, before huffing and puffing out the door and the building. He was _fuming_. These days, his moods always gave him whiplash. One minute he was sad, and the next he wanted to yell angrily at everything. Stomping across campus, he moved past slow walkers, eager to get home and plan out all the sex he was going to have with God knew who, when he bumped into someone, making him jolt backwards and his hands fly out of his pockets to steady himself.

Condoms flew everywhere as Louis caught his balance and looked up to see Harry standing in front of him. The curly haired boy, who had pushed his curls aside with a deep blue beanie, had just caught himself too, staring at the condoms tossed up in the air before they fell to the ground. Then, he looked at Louis, the two of them locking eyes while streams of students walked past them to get to class on time. Louis didn’t even want to know what Harry was thinking. He probably thought Louis was some sad sex addict now.

“Hi, Louis,” Harry said, his voice small and tentative.

Louis took a deep breath, staring down at his lost condoms, wistfully. They weren’t sanitary anymore. He couldn’t use them and he couldn’t have sex. It was loss after loss, hit after hit. “Hello, Harry. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, how are you?”

Upon hearing a touch of concern in his tone, Louis looked at him, finding big green eyes looking back at him. “I’m alright.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I just...you know.”

Harry nodded, like he did know, but he probably didn’t. Someone cleared their voice beside them and Louis registered the bleached blond boy standing next to Harry. Harry seemed to realize at the same time as him. “Oh, wow. Um, Louis, this is Niall, my good friend. Niall, this is Louis.”

“The one you told me about?” Niall asked, a teasing smile on his face.

“Yes,” Harry bit out, shooting Niall a warning look.

Louis cocked his head to the side, his expression calculating. _Interesting_. Harry talked about him to his friends, but Louis couldn’t imagine it was good things. He was going through a rough time and he was a hot mess. What good things could Harry say about him? But then again, Harry was so nice and caring. He listened to Louis when he was drunk and heartbroken. Louis didn’t think Harry was capable of speaking badly about anyone, not even a fly.

“Nice to meet you,” Niall smiled brightly, reaching over to shake Louis’ hand.

“Same,” Louis responded before addressing Harry. “Sorry for bumping into you. I was in a rush to go home.”

“Hot date?” Niall grinned, waggling his eyebrows and looking down at all the condoms.

Oh, Jesus. Louis smiled tightly. “Not quite. I found those in the guidance counselor’s office. I don’t know why I just took them.”

“No shame,” Niall continued. “You’re being safe, so this actually makes you smart.”

“Right,” Louis trailed off, wishing the ground would just swallow him whole. He couldn’t bear Harry looking at him anymore. It was too much.

Niall quickly bent down, grabbing some of the condoms off the ground. “Here, I’ll help you.”

Louis grimaced, his cheeks blossoming pink as he bent down as well. “You really don’t have to. I don’t need them.”

Niall continued to pick them up anyway, so Louis did too, all the while aware of the fact that Harry was still watching him. When they got most of them up (save for the ones Niall shoved in his own pocket), Louis put them in his backpack this time, and faced the other two boys. “Thanks, um, for your help,” he said.

“We want you to be safe,” Niall insisted.

“Even if you did steal them from the guidance counselor,” Harry quipped.

Louis’ jaw dropped. There was a hint of amusement in Harry’s eyes, which was just something else.  “I did not _steal_ them. They are for the students, which I am. You -- _you’re the actual thief_. I saw you take all the bananas from the dining hall the other day!”

At that, Harry’s jaw also dropped, probably shocked that he was caught. Niall seemed delighted upon hearing that, laughing gleefully as he looked at his friend. “You _would_ do that, you banana loving freak.”

Harry’s lips curved up into a small smirk and he rolled his eyes at Niall. “Shut up.” He looked back at Louis. “Anyway, we’ve got class, so we have to get going. But, um, Louis...if you ever need anything -- like even just to talk -- then let me know. Don’t be a stranger, yeah? I’m here. Whenever you need, really.”

Louis gave him a small nod and smile as they said their goodbyes and walked their separate ways. It was sweet of Harry to offer, but he was sure he wasn’t actually going to bother Harry again. Dumping all of his relationship and love woes once was enough.

♡

Louis couldn’t believe he was stood outside Harry’s apartment door at three in the fucking morning, but yet, there he was.

It wasn’t easy, making the decision to come over, but Louis couldn’t sleep. He felt restless and this wasn’t the first time. Only this time, he just couldn’t be bothered lying in bed in his dark room with nothing but his thoughts in his head. So he put on some joggers, a hoodie, and his sneakers before walking out into the cold night air. At first, he was just walking, but then somehow he started thinking about Harry. And in that moment, with everything going on, he realized he did need someone to talk to. Someone to help him make sense of what was going on because even though it was pretty obvious, Louis still couldn’t come to terms with it. It was hard.

He remembered where Harry lived and made his way over, thinking he’d probably psych himself out by the time he reached Harry’s apartment, but he didn’t. He only wanted to see the other boy even more, so he let himself up the steps and rang Harry’s doorbell. It took a good minute for someone to come through and thankfully, it was Harry’s voice on the intercom asking who it was. When Louis responded, Harry buzzed him in without another word.

When Louis got to his door, he saw Harry didn’t open it yet, so he stood there for a few moments before knocking. Moments later, Harry opened it, wearing a pair of grey joggers and a faded, blue Penn State t-shirt. “Hi, sorry,” Harry said, voice deep from sleep. “I needed to put clothes on.”

“I’m sorry,” Louis said in lieu of a greeting. “I shouldn’t have come so late, but I just -- I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk, but it was cold outside and I thought of you. I don’t even have your number. If I did, I would have called or texted or something before coming, but I just know where you live.”

“Hey, hey,” Harry shook his head, placing his hand over Louis’ shoulder softly. “You’re fine. It doesn’t matter what time it is. Come on in. Do you want some hot chocolate or tea?”

“Tea, please,” Louis requested, taking his shoes off by the doorway before walking further inside. The place didn’t look any different than when Louis was last here, only cleaner and emptier. It was quiet, which made Louis remember just how late it was, and on a fucking school night as well. He turned around to face Harry, who was closing the door behind him. “Have you got a morning class tomorrow?”

Harry shook his head. “I don’t have class tomorrow. Was just going to study and catch up on all my reading.”

“I’m sorry again,” Louis said. “I don’t know what’s come over me.”

“You really don’t have to apologize. I told you that if you needed someone to talk to that I was here for you. And I am -- even if it’s at three in the morning.”

Harry led the two of them into the kitchen, getting busy with the tea, and Louis searched his head to understand why Harry was being so nice. All Louis had done was show him what a mess he was, and yet, Harry was just _really_ nice. Then he remembered something his mother always said. Some people in this world were just genuinely good people. They never expected anything from anyone, they just always wanted to do the right thing and be there for others. Harry must be one of those people.

“Sugar? Milk?” Harry asked, glancing up at Louis.

“A splash of milk’s alright.”

While Harry took out some cups, Louis sat down at the small, square table by the window. It was cute, very quaint, big enough for three to four people, and there was another indoor plant sat in the center with a doily underneath it. Five minutes later, Harry put down a cup of tea in front of Louis and sat with his own across from him. Louis watched as Harry took a tentative sip, his lips a darker shade of pink at this time of night, and his eyes a pale green, hazy with sleep.

“So what’s going on?” Harry asked, placing his cup down.

“I found out something about Isaac,” Louis began. “I don’t think he was completely honest as to why he broke up with me.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, my friend Gigi told me that Isaac’s frat -- Pi Kappa Alpha -- have a bet going on that the upperclassmen who are graduating will have sex with a number of people, all of who will add up to 10,000 pounds, by the end of the year.”

Harry looked aghast, disgusted, and frankly shocked. “Are you fucking joking? That’s so awful.”

“I know,” Louis said. “I think so, too. I hope whoever they’re sleeping with know about this because I’d hate for anyone else’s feelings to be hurt. But yeah, Isaac’s participating, too, by the looks of it. I saw him hooking up with someone at the Halloween party. Gigi also said she’s seen Snapchats of him with other people and heard stories.”

“Oh God. I’m so sorry, Louis. That’s so messed up.”

“It is,” Louis nodded. “I just don’t understand. He told me he needed to find himself. Didn’t realize it was in the pants of another person.”

“Sometimes people do shitty things like that. It’s this messed up culture in college life. People do the stupidest shit just to fit in and have fun.”

“I didn’t think Isaac would be one of them. He told me he loved me and that he thought I was beautiful and the best thing in his life, and months later, he’s telling me he’s done. I don’t know how someone could just flip like that. And I feel so stupid, you know? I trusted him with everything in me. I told him everything there was about me and now I want all my secrets and stories back. I don’t want him to know who I am.”

“Oh, Louis,” Harry said softly, reaching a hand over to rest over Louis’. “You’re not stupid. You’re not the wrong one here. He is. He doesn’t know how much of a mistake he made now, but he will very soon.”

“Soon seems like such a long time, though. All my friends are there for me, but they all say the same thing -- that I’ll feel better _soon_ , but it’s been two months, and I’m still not feeling better. I feel like every day I just get worse and my friends see that. They’re constantly looking at me like I’m made of glass and I’m starting to believe that I am. Zayn says that I was never this guy that gets so beaten up over things, but that’s so fucking hard because something awful happened to me and it’s never happened before, so I’m just not sure what I’m meant to do anymore or how I’m meant to act. I just wanted someone who would love me and continue to love me. I wanted someone who would choose me and never stop choosing me. Yeah, it was hard at first, but I thought Isaac was it.”

Harry was starting to rub soothing circles over Louis’ hand, making him feel warm all over. Their tea was left untouched, but Louis felt eons lighter having said all that he did. He also felt more safe and sound than he had in ages Harry had a certain vibe about him that made being there feel like Louis could say anything he wanted and he wouldn’t be judged. Harry felt homey, like when you’re in your bedroom and you weren’t expected to be a person. You could just...be.

“I can’t really speak for Isaac or your friends,” Harry said. “But you’re doing the best you can, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re taking everyday as it comes and it’ll stop hurting slowly, one day at a time. I know soon sounds like an indefinite time frame, but that’s because no one can determine for you when you’ll feel okay. You just need to know that you will be.”

Louis pursed his lips, giving Harry a soft smile. “Thank you, Harry.”

“No problem,” Harry smiled back. “And if it helps, karma’s a real bitch, and I’m sure Isaac will have it coming for him in no time.”

“Yeah? You believe in that karma stuff?”

“Who doesn’t?” Harry grinned, reaching over for his tea. Louis did the same, finally taking a sip and feeling every inch of his body warm up. “Someone’s going to come around and break Isaac’s heart and he’s going to feel what he made you feel and that’s when he’ll regret everything. That’s what happens to people who do bad things. It’s, like, a universal law.”

Louis hadn’t ever really thought about that. He wasn’t big on karma or any spirituality stuff, but it’d be quite fantastic if Isaac got a taste of his own medicine. The thought of it brought a small smile on Louis’ face and he had to catch himself before he let his thoughts drift and get too petty. But Louis had always been _pretty_ petty.

“What are you thinking?” Harry asked.

Louis hummed, glancing up at Harry. “Oh, just about what you said.”

“Karma?”

Louis nodded.

Harry chuckled. “Yeah. But karma works when it wants to. After all, you can’t manipulate the universe.”

But Louis did want to. He didn’t want to sit around and wait for Isaac to know how awful he’d been to him. Louis wanted him to know _now_. If karma wasn’t going to speed up, then Louis would just have to take matters into his own hands. In fact, he already knew what he wanted to do while looking at Harry all sleep rumpled in front of him.

“How do you feel about playing karma’s advocates?” Louis asked Harry, a devilish smile taking over his face.

Harry blinked at him slowly. “I’m sorry?”

“I don’t think I want to wait for karma. I think I just want to do this on my own,” Louis said. “And I need your help.”

“My help?!”

Louis nodded calmly. “What if you were to get close to Isaac, make him fall for you, and then break his heart?”

Harry leaned back in his chair. “Louis...I think you need to get some sleep.”

“Hear me out,” Louis ignored him. “I know what Isaac likes. I know how he thinks. I know what he wants. I could train you and present you to him and he would slowly fall for you. But then _bam_ , you break his heart, thus giving him a taste of his own medicine and doing karma’s work.”

“That’s not --,” Harry shook his head, pausing for a moment. “That’s not how this works. I told you that you need to let karma do it at its own time. This plan could backfire horrendously.”

“How would it?” Louis asked. “It’s so simple, it’s foolproof.”

“He could find out that I’m in cahoots with you,” Harry pointed out and Louis smiled, delighted at Harry’s usage of the word _cahoots._ He was so special. “Plus, why does it have to be me?”

“Well, who else would it be? Isaac already knows all my friends. I’m not going to ask anyone else because then I’d have to tell them about all this and you already know. What else is there? I can’t hold auditions for boys to seduce my ex-boyfriend.”

Harry let out a shaky laugh. “Point, but I don’t know, Louis. I want to be here for you, but I don’t think I can be this involved.”

“Oh, come on, Harry. Please?” Louis pleaded. “At least think about it?”

“Fine,” Harry nodded. “I can think about it, but I hope by morning you realize this was just a bad 3 AM plan that you made whilst super sleep deprived. Because it is.”

“Or, it’s a super brilliant 3 AM plan that I made whilst inspired by the lovely boy sitting across from me,” Louis beamed.

Harry scrunched up his nose, his lips curving up into a smile. “Now you’re just trying to flatter me.”

“I am because I think you’re really great,” Louis said slowly. “Thank you for being here for me. Honest. I don’t know why you’re being so nice to me, but I really appreciate it. And I’m glad I came to your party and got to meet you.”

Harry seemed proper flushed now. His cheeks were pink and the smile on his face could probably cure world hunger because it was so nice. “I think you’re really great, too, Lou. I’m happy to have met you as well.”

They finished their tea while talking about Thanksgiving break plans, which was coming up the following week. Once done, they dumped their tea bags in the trash and placed their empty cups in the sink. Harry gave Louis a warm hug on the way out and Louis smiled all the way home.

♡

The first week of December brought snow, which came as a surprise for all as it hadn’t snowed during early December in years. Louis, Gigi, and Zayn trekked out onto campus, despite having a snow day, where there was a massive snowball fight happening amongst several students. It was as exciting and amped as it was during their home football games. Louis always went into snowball fights with a strategy. He picked out his targets, made several snowballs in one spot, then stealthily hid wherever he could while attacking when they least expected it.

So far his targets were Zayn, Gigi, and this kid in his Economics class that annoyed him. Louis sat on the ground over a patch of snow, hidden behind a couple trees, as he rolled as many snowballs as he could. Zayn and Gigi were going in blindly, making weak, small, pitiful snowballs, and hitting random people with them. Amateurs. Once done, Louis stood up, peeking out from behind the tree trunk and getting ready for his aim. But then he felt something hit him from the back.

“What the --,” he muttered, turning around to see Harry grinning while wearing this ridiculous pink beanie over his mop of hair.

“Gotcha,” he said, clearly very happy with himself.

“Where did you come from?” Louis asked, nearly clutching onto his chest in a dramatic manner. In the end he just threw the snowball in his hand at Harry, pathetically hitting his arm.

“I was playing and I saw you sneaking around back here,” he said, watching Louis, his eyes unbearably soft and green. “You look nice today.”

Louis self consciously touched his glasses on his face. He had been too lazy to put in his contacts that morning. “Um, thanks. You, too. I like your beanie.”

Harry grinned, touching the top of his pink beanie. “Want to team up?”

“Hell no,” Louis said. “This is war between you and me. Stand your ground because no one gets me from the back!”

Harry cackled, delighted at Louis’ dramatics, and scampered away, grabbing a fistful of snow with him. Louis creeped up behind another tree, holding two snowballs in his hand, peering around for Harry. He was easy to spot since he was so big with his long, black coat, so Louis threw one, hitting Harry square on the head. Louis laughed, moving a little closer to get him from the front, only he lost Harry while running from one tree to another. Louis looked around, trying to find a trace on the ground, or even a flash of black and brown, but when he didn’t, he stepped out from behind the tree.

Suddenly a gust of white hit him right on the face and he toppled backward, clutching his nose. “Oh my God,” he heard, and then footsteps rushed over. Harry loomed over him, watching with horror. “Fuck, Louis. I broke your glasses.”

“What?” Louis mumbled, too distracted by the numbing pain on his face. He moved his hand up to his eyes only to realize that yes, Harry did break his glasses, right down the fucking middle. Louis held up the two pieces in front of him, blind and injured.

Harry Styles was a good man, but he was also lethal.

“Here, let me help you up,” Harry said, grabbing Louis around the shoulders and practically lifting him off the ground. He grimaced when he took sight of Louis’ face. “You don’t look so good. This might bruise.”

“What the hell were you thinking?” Louis asked him, still holding his glasses. “Did you want to kill me?”

“ _No!_ ,” Harry wailed, wrapping both arms around Louis in an attempt to hug him. “I didn’t realize it would hit you so hard. C’mon. I’ll take you to my place and get you all fixed up. I’ll try to fix your glasses, too. Promise!”

“Fine, but you’ll also have to make me tea. And get me cookies.”

“I will do it all.”

The two of them walked the short distance to Harry’s apartment and the entire way, Harry insisted upon holding Louis against him since Louis could barely see where he was going in the snow without his glasses or contacts. When they got to Harry’s, they slipped off their wet shoes and coats, leaving them by the front door to dry. Louis took his place on a dining room chair while Harry rushed into the bathroom, walking out with a first aid kit.

While he took out some of the contents and placed them on the table, Eleanor stepped out from her bedroom, looking at the two of them. “Hi,” she said slowly, probably not fully recognizing Louis.

Harry glanced up at her. “Oh, hey, El. Louis’ here. I busted up his face with a snowball.”

“Jesus Christ,” she muttered, walking over to inspect Louis’ face. She winced upon getting a closer look. “Are you alright?”

“I feel like my face is about to break into little pieces and I can’t really see,” Louis told her. “But other than that, I’m great.”

She let out an amused titter, moving around Harry, who was now pressing a cold compress to Louis’ face. “Do you guys want tea? Coffee? I need some caffeine. I’ve been working on a paper all day.”

“Tea for both of us, please,” Harry said. “Louis likes his with a splash of milk.”

“Noted,” Eleanor said.

Fifteen minutes later, Eleanor made her way back to her bedroom and paper with a fresh cup of coffee, leaving Louis and Harry back at the table with their own teas. Louis was comfortable, feet up on one chair, as he sipped his warm drink. Harry was sitting across from him trying to tape Louis’ glasses together, in the same seat when Louis showed up that night at 3 AM. They’d seen each other once since then. It was after Thanksgiving break at the campus coffee shop, and the two of them decided that it was time they finally exchanged numbers.

They didn’t really text, though. Harry said he wasn’t big on using his phone too much, opting to be in the moment rather than browsing some mundane social media site. Louis found that sort of endearing, mostly because he knew whenever he and Harry met up, Harry had his undivided attention on Louis.

“Did you think more about the karma plan?” Louis asked, breaking the silence.

Harry smiled, not looking up from the glasses. “It’s not karma if you’re the one doing it, Lou.”

“Yes, it is! We’re karma’s advocates. I told you!”

“Well, I have thought about it. A little bit,” Harry said. “I mean, if we were to do this, you and I would have to spend a lot of time together, right?”

Louis nodded. “Yeah, I mean. I’d have to coach you through it and stuff. I haven’t thought about the logistics of this, but yeah.”

“Oh,” Harry responded, going back to concentrating on the task at hand. Louis wondered why Harry was asking this. Did he not want to spend time with Louis? Harry cleared his throat and Louis’ ears perked up, ready to hear his answer. “Would we just be doing the whole revenge thing, or would we actually hang out? Like, you know...you and me.”

“Harry,” Louis softly chuckled. “You and I can hang out even if you don’t want to do this. We’re friends, right?”

“Right,” Harry grinned, seeming rather delighted by the concept.

“So friends hang out. We’re hanging out right now. And frankly, I think you’re really fun and cool and neat.”

“You think I’m neat?” Harry asked, his grin deepening, as though that was possible.

“Oh, absolutely,” Louis nodded.

“Well, I think you’re pretty damn neat, too, Louis. And I want to help you. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Louis pouted, jutting his lower lip out, and blinking at Harry with his big, blue eyes. “Please, Harry. Please seduce my ex-boyfriend and then break his heart.”

Harry burst out laughing, groaning into his hands and shaking his head. “You’re so crazy. You can’t look at me like that and expect me to say no. You’re so _insane_.”

Louis started making whimpering, puppy like noises, scooting over one chair so he was next to Harry now. “Please, please, _please_!”

“Alright, alright,” Harry laughed, batting Louis away. “I’ll do it.”

Louis leaned over again, hugging Harry, excitedly, jumping up and down on his chair. “You won’t regret it, I swear.”

♡

“I’m starting to regret this,” Harry said, staring at himself in the mirror and taking in all the Adidas apparel he had on on his body.

“What are you talking about?” Louis asked, smiling at Harry’s reflection. “You look _fantastic_!”

“I look _obnoxious_ ,” Harry refuted, tugging at the hem of his black Adidas pullover.

“Stylish, more like,” Louis hummed, appreciatively. “And comfortable.”

“I don’t know about this, Louis. Are you sure this is what Isaac likes?”

Louis stepped back a bit, gesturing down at his body, where he too was donning black Adidas joggers, a grey and blue Adidas sweatshirt, and simple Adidas NEO sneakers on his feet. “What do you think?” he asked. Harry looked at him before turning to the mirror again and making a face at himself. The two of them were out shopping at the mall because Louis wanted Harry to get a new wardrobe for when he seduced Isaac. Louis was well aware the kind of boys Isaac was attracted to, even though he was doing a free for all type of thing now, and he wanted Harry to look good so that Isaac would check him out. Harry’s usual wardrobe consisted of some basic t-shirt, jeans, and a beanie over his head. It was cute, but they needed Harry to stand out.  

The first stop was, of course, Adidas, but Harry wasn’t feeling it. He claimed it was too casual for his liking and he was more of a Nike guy, anyway. Louis scoffed at that. Everyone knew Adidas were superior when it came to sportswear.

“Can I just make a suggestion?” Harry asked, looking back at Louis.

“Always, Harry.”

“Can we -- just -- I don’t know...try something else? Something completely new?”

“Like?”

“I don’t know,” Harry said. “Let’s just walk around and look at the different stores and find something that makes me look hot. I just -- I don’t think this is very me.”

“It’s not supposed to be you,” Louis pointed out. “Besides, everything will make you look hot. Have you seen yourself? You’re gorgeous. You could wear a garbage bag and you’d win best dressed in every list.”

Harry’s eyes lit up in amusement, cheeks coloring, as he tried to hold his smile together by biting his lower lip. “Stop flattering me and let’s go check out the other stores. I’ll buy you a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s.”

“Deal,” Louis said without another thought. He _loved_ pretzels from Auntie Anne’s.

Harry changed out of the clothes he tried on, pulling on his blue jeans and red flannel that he paired with another flannel. It was his lazy day outfit, apparently, one that actually sort of worked depending on how you looked at it. But Louis meant it when he said Harry looked good in everything. It was _insanely_ unfair.

They strolled casually through the mall, making a pit stop at Auntie Anne’s where Harry bought Louis his pretzels. “Looking forward to Winter break?” Harry asked, stealing a bite from Louis.

Louis nodded. “It’s always nice going back. I’ve got a ton of younger sisters and they’re all bitter I have such a long break as opposed to them.”

“Oh, sick. How many sisters do you have?”

“Four.”

“Damn. I have one older sister and I thought I had it bad, but you’ve got four of them. I’m not even that close to mine.”

“I’m not close to mine, either. Mom and Dad had them a few years after I was born, so I was sort of on my own while they’re all a bit paired off. Love bothering them, though.”

“Nice,” Harry chuckled. “You grew up in Boston, right?”

“Yeah, near Beacon Hill. You know it?”

“I’ve never been to Boston.”

“You totally have to come visit then. I’ll show you around. It’s a small city, but it’s got a few nice things.” Louis paused, chewing his pretzel bite. “Where did you grow up?”

“Dirty Jersey.”

“Yikes.”

“I know. I know. We’re the most hated state, blah blah,” Harry said, leaning in for another bite. “Don’t remind me.”

Louis snickered, fishing in his bag for another pretzel. He looked around the different stores and spotted an H&M. “Would you want to go in there? I think they’d have stuff we could try on.”

“Sure,” Harry nodded. They made their way into the store, Charli XCX playing loudly on the speakers, while teens milled around, looking for stuff on the sales rack. Louis let Harry wander, allowing him to choose his own clothes, but kept a close eye to make sure it’d be stuff Isaac was going to like.

The thing with Isaac was that he was really particular when he wanted to date guys. Louis noticed that a few weeks into them being friends. When they hung out, Louis would watch where Isaac paid most attention to, or rather _who_. He liked guys who were well dressed, but relaxed and comfortable in their own skin and what they were wearing. He told Harry as much during the bus ride to the mall. And since Harry was clearly not comfortable in all that Adidas sportswear, it might not be a good idea for him to wear that. Whatever it was, the main thing they needed to do was leave Isaac wanting more in the end. Harry was going to have to be mysterious. He had to be alluring, sexy, and nearly unattainable. But given the fact that Harry was insanely gorgeous already -- more gorgeous than majority of the generic looking guys Louis had encountered at their school -- it wasn’t going to be that hard.

“What do you think of this?” Harry asked, holding up a [black and white flower print shirt](http://s4.favim.com/orig/141227/beautiful-dimple-gif-harry-styles-Favim.com-2340384.gif). The material looked to be on the expensive side. Louis observed it quietly, giving Harry a shrug. He wasn’t all that fashion forward himself, so he wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“Why don’t you try it on?” Louis asked. “Maybe I’ll get a better idea of how it is.”

Harry nodded, swinging the shirt on its hanger, as he walked over to the dressing rooms. Louis waited by the entrance, leaning against the wall and opening up a few Snapchats from Zayn, who was snapping himself using various filters while laying shirtless on his bed. He clearly had too much time on his hands.

“Louis.”

Louis glanced up, his jaw dropping instantly. Harry slowly walked out of his dressing room, looking like a modern Greek God. The shirt was suddenly more than just an expensive looking fabric. It was beautiful. But really, it was Harry that made it beautiful. He’d worn it quite nicely, tucking it into his jeans, but not tightly so that he looked like a 50 year old dad. It was loose and accentuating his slender waist. The sleeves were rolled up past his elbows and the buttons were only buttoned halfway, exposing his smooth, inked chest.

Harry did a shy twirl in front of him. “Well? Do you like it?”

“You look hot,” Louis finally said, his mouth feeling dry like cotton and his brain not filtering properly.

Harry laughed softly. “So that’s a yes?”

“It’s a hell yes.”

“Awesome. Do I still have to get all that Adidas stuff? I’d rather we get a couple of shirts like this.”

“Yeah, that would be fine. I’m still paying, though.”

Harry gave him a salute in response, walking back into his dressing room, and Louis couldn’t help but stare a bit longer at his retreating form. Isaac won’t know what hit him when he saw Harry. Heck, Louis wasn’t even prepared.

The plan was simple, really. They’d head over to the frat party that night and Harry would walk by Isaac a few times, just enough to catch his attention. The goal was to get a little small talk in where Harry would play hard to get and leave Isaac wanting more. Louis would be there to monitor the whole thing. He bought a disguise, so no one would recognize him, otherwise the whole thing would be over before it started.

“Ready?” Harry asked, stepping back out of the dressing room.

Louis looked at him, nodding. “Let’s get this bitch.”

♡

Harry took one look at Louis and doubled over in laughter. Louis rolled his eyes at him, crossing his arms, and waiting until he was done. But Harry kept laughing, his words caught in his throat as he wheezed and clutched his stomach. Louis’ disguise wasn’t even that funny. But Zayn, Liam, Sophia, and Gigi all had the same reaction when Louis stepped out of his room with his blond wig that parted in the middle, blond mustache, and big square framed glasses. It was all he could find at the dollar store, alright? He didn’t have many options. At least the mustache matched the hair.

“Are you quite finished?” Louis asked.

Harry shook his head, wiping a stray tear from his eye, and letting out another cackle of laughter. “You look like Will Ferrell in _Anchorman_ , Lou.”

“Okay, well as long as I don’t look like me, then I know the disguise works.”

It took another ten minutes for Harry to calm down before they could head over to the frat. Everyone was going tonight, including Louis and Harry’s friends, because it was the only party happening on campus, and they all wanted to get a little drunk. The two boys walked the short distance to the frat house after having agreed with their friends to meet them there. When they arrived, a EDM remix of a Lorde song blasted through the speakers, drifting out onto the lawn where a few people stood all bundled up while smoking up a joint.

“Eleanor found your friends,” Harry said to Louis, looking down at his phone. “Asked us to join them.”

“I want to hang out with them, but I think it’d be suspicious,” Louis said.

“How?”

“Well, Isaac knows all my friends, so I don’t want him to see you with them. And I don’t want him to see me period.”

“Right. About Isaac. What did you want me to do again?”

“Well,” Louis began. “First, we have to stake out where he is...as in which room. Once we do, I’ll find a cover and make sure to blend in while you circle him a bit, you know? Like make sure you walk by a few times and make sure he sees you. And knowing Isaac, he’ll strike up a conversation. So you talk to him. Just small talk for now, like hey and what’s up. But then as soon as that’s done, just walk away. Look busy with other people -- maybe Niall or Eleanor. Glance over a few times, but then look away, super unaffected. If he looks like he’s going to walk over again, just walk the other way, find someone else. Got it?”

Harry furrowed his brows in determination, walking up the steps of the frat house. “Yeah, got it.”

“Alright, it’s show time. Just follow me, but discreetly,” Louis told him, walking toward the door and opening it. The music was infinitely louder inside, packs of bodies swaying and moving to it as they walked through the house. The smell of weed was almost too strong and Louis wondered if he could bum a few puffs from whoever had the joint on them.

As they moved through the house, Louis spotted his friends cramped up against a couch in the main room, talking amongst themselves. Eleanor was with them, perched on the couch’s arm, and talking with the girls while Liam and Zayn conversed with Niall. All of them hanging out was going to make it hard for Harry to stay mysterious and away from Isaac. Louis would just have to separate them once Harry got Isaac’s initial attention.

It wasn’t too hard to find his ex. Isaac was stationed in the kitchen, talking to some guys while drinking from his red solo cup. He looked good, much to Louis’ dismay, dressed in blue jeans, a red Henley, and his hair was doing a cute swoopy thing. Louis felt his phone vibrate in his pants, so he reached for it, opening it up to see a text from Harry. He frowned, turning around to see Harry lurking in the corner, and looking up at Louis through the glare of his phone screen. Louis looked down at the text.

_Which one is he?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!??!!?!_

_the one in the red henley ugh_

Harry looked up, seeking Isaac out and staring at him for a few moments before texting Louis back.

_Damn. He’s hot._

_Ikr!!!! Anyway im gonna stand out in the yard since the door’s open and keep an eye on you two. Do your thang harru_

Louis pocketed his phone, grabbing a red cup and quickly filling it with cheap keg beer, and walking out the sliding backyard doors. He leaned against the railing of the back porch, in perfect eyesight of Isaac and Harry. At first, Harry wasn’t there, but then Louis watched as he strolled in, his aura cool and chill. Almost _too_ cool. He looked like he was on a fucking runway, doing some sort of hair tug as he went for added dramatics. It was a really good touch and Louis felt himself get affected for a second. Harry was really good at this seducing thing. And forget Isaac, _everyone’s_ eyes were on him.

Harry paid them no mind, though, as he made his way over to the counter beside Isaac, slowly taking a red cup and studying the different bottles there. He decided on whiskey and ginger-ale, pouring himself the drink before taking a sip. He still hadn’t turned to look at Isaac. Everyone else got bored of Harry mixing himself a drink, except for the Isaac, who was still watching Harry curiously. Once Harry deemed the drink worthy, he turned around, leaning against the counter, and facing the yard. He and Louis made direct eye contact, and Louis had to suppress the smile on his face as he glanced down at his phone to look busy and inconspicuous, his mustache tickling his mouth.

When he looked back up, he found that Harry wasn’t there anymore, and Isaac had drifted back to his conversation with his friends. Louis slowly, very casually, made his way back inside, wandering through to the main room where he found Harry, sitting on Niall’s lap as they both spoke to Eleanor. His friends were no longer there, which meant Harry probably shooed them away. Good boy.

“Hey, stud.”

Louis startled, jumping back, only to see Zayn grinning at him like a _freak_. “What?” Louis asked dumbly. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, you see, my girlfriend just can’t keep her eyes off of you and it’s starting to really get to my self-esteem. So I wanted to ask how do you do it. How do you manage to look this good?”

Louis rolled his eyes, so far beyond done with the disguise jokes. He wasn’t meant to be catching anyone’s attention, instead, blending in. “Shut it, Zayn. You can’t be talking to me right now. Me and Harry are on a mission.”

“You mean your insanely crazy idea where you use Harry to get back at your ex?”

God. Zayn was so annoying when he was trying to be the voice of reason. “Harry agreed to it. So I’m not really using him. He’s doing this with me willingly.”

“That’s because Harry’s a nice guy and it’s hard to say no to you, Lou.”

“I can’t help it if my face makes it difficult to say no to me. Point is -- he said yes. And it’s going great.”

“Is it?” Zayn asked.

Louis nodded. “Isaac was checking Harry out earlier.”

“Everyone’s checking Harry out,” Zayn snorted. He gestured over to the boy with a nod as well as the surrounding room, which Louis hadn’t really been paying attention to. But upon closer look, he realized Zayn was right. Almost everyone in the room was stealing glances at Harry, giving him a second once over, because truth of the matter was that Harry was the best looking person at this party by a landslide. He was well-dressed, he did his hair all nice, and he just looked _expensive_ , if that made sense. The shirt was only about $20, but it had an expensive touch to it. Most college students didn’t bother with that. They threw on a basic tee with a pair of jeans and called it a day.

More than that, though, Harry just had a certain charisma and charm about him. His smile, demeanor, and confident body language set him apart. It was a shock Louis hadn’t noticed him before that party at their place. Was he too absorbed in Isaac and their relationship? Louis always thought he was better than that. He didn’t want to be the guy who didn’t know anyone other than his boyfriend. He used to always make a conscious effort to hang out with his friends and his other circles despite having a significant other. Maybe Harry and Louis just never crossed paths before this year. But he seemed to have come into Louis’ life at a prime time.

Harry finished his drink on Niall’s lap, excusing himself from that conversation, before casually making his way back into the kitchen. He made brief eye contact with Louis as he went and Louis slowly followed, combing back the stray strands of his fake blond hair. Isaac was still there and his eyes immediately found Harry, watching him go for the counter. This time, rather than just staring, Isaac walked over to him. The plan was moving quicker than they anticipated. Louis quickly inched closer and closer, wanting to hear the conversation.

“Hey, I’m Isaac,” he heard.

Harry paused for a moment and Louis was afraid he’d frozen up, but then Harry replied, smooth drawl. “Harry,” he introduced.

“Nice to meet you, Harry. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you come to one of our parties.”

Harry chuckled with a shrug. “Not really my scene.”

“What is your scene then?”

“Definitely not somewhere where frat boys think they have a shot with me. Excuse me.”

Louis watched with his mouth gaping as Harry slid past Isaac and down the hall back to the main room. Isaac stood there with a similar expression to Louis’, except he looked more embarrassed, glancing around to make sure no one saw or heard that. Louis stifled his laugh, turned around swiftly, and walked back to the main room.

♡

“I wasn’t really sure what exactly you wanted me to say, but I just needed to take his confidence down a notch, you feel me?” Harry asked as the two of them walked down the busy streets of Boston. It was rush hour and they’d taken the bus downtown where they were meeting a friend of Harry’s for dinner. Men and women in their power suits were rushing past them to get to the train or bus on time so that they could go home. “Plus, boys like him love when the object of their affection is a little mean.”

“Boys like him?” Louis asked. “What do you mean?”

Harry looked uncomfortable for a moment, like he was unsure if he should answer Louis. “Well, I don’t know him, obviously, but I got a really cocky, arrogant vibe from him.”

“You’re right,” Louis said, slightly defensive. “You don’t know him. But it’s okay to be honest about him. Not like he’s my boyfriend anymore.”

“Yeah, but you might still have feelings for him.”

Did Louis still have feelings for Isaac? He wasn’t sure. He’d felt nothing but anger and contempt toward his ex lately and because of that, he was starting to lose sight of his previous feelings. Ones that were full of love and adoration. He also hadn’t been actively thinking about Isaac other than this plan to get back at him. When they’d first broken up, it was a different story, since Louis was plagued by the good memories from their relationship.

“Why do you think I still have feelings for him?” Louis asked Harry, suddenly curious.

“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t care enough about him to go through all that you are right now. You know...the whole revenge plan.”

Fuck. Harry had Louis there and it was, for the first time, bothering him. He didn’t want it to, though. He didn’t want to back out now because he was still angry. He wanted Isaac to know how it felt -- how _Louis_ felt. That didn’t mean that Louis still had feelings for him. Or maybe he did. Would that be so terrible? Louis wasn’t sure. They’d dated for so long and the process to move on from someone differed from person to person. Given the extent of Louis’ feelings he could still be in love with Isaac, but the fact that he had to think about it was strange. Everything was starting to feel strange and all of Louis’ feelings and thoughts felt muddled in his brain.

He was saved from answering or responding to Harry because they’d gotten to where Harry’s friend, Ed, asked them to meet him. The corner of Sudbury and Congress. Why was his friend asking to meet smackdab in the middle of the Financial District during the busiest time of the week days? If Louis got jostled by one more person who didn’t even bother to say sorry, then he was going to have a problem.

“Which one’s your friend?” Louis asked, moving closer to Harry so that he wouldn’t get shoved again.

“Over there,” Harry pointed across the street at a boy with red hair, sitting on the ground against a lamp post, and strumming his guitar. Louis was at a loss for words as they approached him while he sang some song and nodded his head thanks to a lady who dropped some change in his guitar case. Harry grinned, dropping a dollar in the case as well. “Hey, Ed.”

“Harry,” Ed greeted, his song forgotten as his eyes flitted over to Louis.

Louis offered him a small smile as well. “I’m Louis.”

“Ed. Nice to meet you,” he said, standing up on his feet. He picked up all the change and dollars he made, depositing them in his jacket pocket, and then placed his guitar back inside the case. Once done, he looked at them. “Where we headed? I’m in the mood for burgers.”

“Burgers sound good,” Harry agreed, glancing over at Louis for his opinion.

Louis nodded. “I could do burgers.”

The three of them went down a few blocks toward The Hard Rock Cafe, which was a bit on the expensive side, but Ed said their burgers were to die for and he’d made a little extra that day than usual. Turned out, this was his job, as he told Louis while walking over to the restaurant. He found random places throughout the city to busk in and when he chose areas like the Financial District, he found that the rich folk always had a little extra change on them, dropping it in his case. Touristy spots did well, too, because they always loved a little free entertainment. The only downside was the cold, biting weather of December.

“What have you two been up to today?” Ed asked once they placed their order.

“Classes,” Louis responded.

“Same,” Harry added. “But not busy enough for you, Teddy.”

Ed flipped Harry the middle finger, though, it felt more affectionate than mean. “Classes sound like a bore. I’m glad I never went to college.”

“Is this what you want to do, then?” Louis asked.

“Busk for the rest of my life?” Ed laughed. “Of course not. I work on music all day and try to put together enough for demos so that I could take them to labels.”

“I think Ed will get discovered one day while he’s playing on the street, though,” Harry marveled, eyes lighting up at the thought. “A random music producer will just be walking by and he’ll hear Ed and his angelic voice and be completely stunned. Then he’ll give Ed his card and ask him to call him. Before you know it, Ed’s got a multi-album deal with Grammys under his belt, breaking record after record. Oh, and getting those plaques that his album went platinum and gold.”

Ed rolled his eyes at Harry, though his smile and expression were both fond. “You dream it all for me, don’t you, Harry?”

“I just think that the world deserves to hear your songs.”

“And they do. Every day.”

“On the street. I want to hear you in stadiums, Teddy,” Harry beamed. Their friendship was adorable and Louis was content with sitting there and watching them go back and forth.

Harry was just really good to his friends. Louis could tell by the way they all looked at him, as though he hung the stars and moon, lighting them up for everyone. His heart was just so big and so kind. He took care of all of them and loved them unabashedly. Niall had told Louis that when he was going through this ugly breakup with one of his exes, Harry was his rock. He let Niall sleep in his bed and cuddle with him for two months. He didn’t even mind when Niall cried at night, getting snot and tears all over Harry. And then when Eleanor had a big project due, Harry dropped all of his plans with his friends to go see Coldplay in concert to stay at home and help her. He was even helping Louis with this crazy plan of his, not once complaining that it was too much, even though Louis knew it was.

Harry gave everything for his friends and Louis felt lucky to be one. He hoped Harry knew how much he appreciated it, but also, he hoped Harry knew more than that that if Harry ever needed something, Louis would do it in a heartbeat, no questions asked.

The boys continued to talk, including Louis in so that he wouldn’t feel left out, as they caught up. Harry and Ed knew each other from when Harry first moved to Boston. He’d been sightseeing on his own when he heard Ed play, and the two of them chatted and got to know each other. Since then, they had a standing date for dinner every Tuesday night. Harry told Ed how he met Louis and explained their elaborate Operation Karma, while their food arrived, which had Ed laughing at them and their craziness.

“I brought Louis along because he’s going to give me notes on things Isaac likes,” Harry continued pulling out a small pink notepad.

“Things he likes?” Ed asked.

“His all time favorites, he means,” Louis explained. “Like movie, show, song, etc. Harry’s playing hard to get, but Isaac loves a good connection so I think once he figures out that Harry is into some of the same things he is, he’ll be so easy to win over.”

“Oh, wow,” Ed said. “Did you two have a lot in common?”

“Here and there,” Louis scrunched up his nose, trying to think. They weren’t identical in their favorites, but they did have a connection. He wasn’t sure if Harry would have the same connection with him. It would elongate the operation more than it needed to be if they tried to find out. It was just easier to tell Harry so that he could make Isaac think they were into the same things.

Harry took out a small yellow legal pad as well as a pen, placing it beside his burger and fries. “What’ve you got?”

“Well, his favorite movie is _Skyfall_. Really big James Bond fan. He’s not a big TV fan, but he does watch _Law & Order: SVU _sometimes.”

“Are you joking?” Harry asked, looking up from his scribbling. “Of all crime shows, he picks _Law & Order_? Everyone knows _CSI_ is the best one.”

“I have _always_ told him that, but he never listens to me,” Louis exclaimed. “Anyway, his favorite musician is Eminem and his favorite song is ‘Rockstar’ by Nickelback.”

Harry and Ed exchanged a look between themselves before bursting into laughter. A few people looked over because of how loud they were being. Louis didn’t get the joke, but he shoved a mouthful of fries in his mouth, waiting for them to be finished.

“Sorry, sorry,” Harry wheezed out. “I’m just -- I can’t believe this.”

“Tell me you’re joking,” Ed chortled.

“I’m not. That is literally...what he likes.”

“Leave it to the white frat boy to jam out to Eminem when he’s not singing Nickelback,” Harry said before laughing again, Ed joining him moments later.

Oh. _Wow_. Louis hadn’t really thought of it that way, but Nickelback and Eminem were a bit of a joke nowadays. Especially Eminem with his problematic songs. This would explain why every time Isaac asked Liam to play Eminem when he pulled up his Spotify during their boys night, Zayn would make a weird face. Louis didn’t listen to either artist, but he didn’t question why Isaac listened to them either.

God, had Isaac always been this... _lame_? Louis had heard of love goggles, but this was the first time he realized he’d had them on real tight when he and Isaac were together. As he continued to list off Isaac’s other favorites, he thought about them from a whole new standpoint, and found that Isaac wasn’t all that Louis had made him up to be in his head. In fact, he was kind of boring.

Harry still jotted everything down, laughing at little things here and there, and Louis couldn’t help but start to laugh with him and Ed. Harry had an infectious laugh, really. His dimples had a hand in that. And Louis knew that he was giving Harry all this information to make Isaac find a connection between them, but spending all this time with Harry and seeing him smile like he did made Louis feel like the actual connection forming was here between them.

♡

Louis had a new disguise for the Pi Kappa Alpha Christmas party being held the last day of finals. He picked up a Santa hat and a white beard from a different dollar store and paired it off with a dorky Christmas sweater he had gotten a few years ago from one of his distant aunts. No one laughed as hard this time and he figured he’d blend in since it was a seasonal themed party.

It was just him and Harry tonight as their friends chose to go to another party that was much more low-key. They didn’t plan on being there for too long, though. They’d already attended two other parties after the first one, both of which were brief and quick, because Harry didn’t talk to Isaac either time. He just showed up, made sure the other boy noticed him, and then left. This was so that Harry stayed on Isaac’s mind despite his other conquests (which was starting to become a definite list, according to Gigi). Tonight was going to be short, but significant. The goal was simple -- Harry had to strike up a conversation with Isaac. By the end of it, a promise of something more when they got back from break would really get the plan moving forward.

They were out in the yard this time and Louis had found a nice shady spot under a tree with some drunk girls who couldn’t stop laughing at his sweater. They were in stitches over the pop-up reindeer on it. Harry was only a few feet away, wearing a [black and white print shirt](http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/4cf56ad4-a3c1-4d4d-9646-b9cb6d96a9fa/c35b3c6d-2edd-4dfa-8b70-be1f1921daa7.jpg) that was sheer and exposing his many nipples (he had more than two -- Louis screamed when he saw) and tattoos. He wanted to get a bit closer, but the yard wasn’t too crowded, and he didn’t want Isaac to notice it was him.

It didn’t take long before Isaac approached Harry himself before Harry could do so. They talked for a bit and after a few words exchanged, Harry smiled at him, and Louis knew that look on Isaac’s face right then. His eyes glazed over, that golden hazel darkening if Louis remembered correctly, and lips parted, soft and inviting. Isaac was hooked and he wanted Harry. Louis wasn’t sure if he was happy or jealous, but he didn’t have much time to think because they continued to talk, moving in closer as they did. And then Isaac took his phone out, handing it over to Harry, who presumably entered his number on there. He handed Isaac his phone back, giving him one last smile before walking off.

Louis looked to the girls in front of him, ready to excuse himself, but realized they weren’t even looking at him anymore and were instead talking about how hot Howie Davenport looked that night. Though Louis agreed, he thought better than to say it and launch into a lengthy conversation and, instead, walked in the direction Harry left in. He found the curly haired boy standing in the front yard.

“Hey,” he grinned upon seeing Louis. “I got his number and he has mine.”

“I saw!” Louis exclaimed, grinning behind his beard. “This is fantastic. And he was so into you.”

“Yeah, he told me. He was, like, telling me how good I looked and how he’d like to get to know me, or whatever. I was playing it cool, like, oh alright, sure.” Louis laughed, taking off his santa hat, and placing it over Harry’s head, who smiled. “Want to head back to mine? I’ve got us something, uh, fun to entertain us with.” He lifted up his shirt to reveal two bottles of Fireball Whiskey.

“One hundred percent, yes,” Louis said, tugging off his beard and walking in the direction of Harry’s apartment.

♡

_I'm feelin' myself, I'm feelin' my, feelin' myself_

_I'm feelin' myself, I'm feelin' my_

Louis swayed to the music, chugging Fireball from the bottle, and then scrunched up his face in laughter when he felt Harry grinding up on him. He removed the bottle from his lips, holding it out in front of him as he bent his body back, moving his ass against Harry’s front. They were drunk. Pissed drunk, more like. They’d finished one bottle of Fireball before Harry broke out his Beyonce playlist and they were working through the second bottle while they dancing to the songs.

The best was when Harry performed “Crazy In Love” for Louis, flipping his hair around all over the place, and making the other boy fall to the ground from laughing. Louis got him back by performing “Single Ladies,” nailing every move and hand flip.

“ _Changed the game with that digital drop. Know where you was when that digital popped. I stopped the world_ ,” Louis sang along. “ _Male or female, it make no difference, I stop the world, world stop...carry on_.”

“ _Kitty on pink, pretty on fleek_ ,” Harry sang, voice high pitched, making Louis laugh out loud. “ _Pretty gang, always keep them_ -” he covered his mouth during the slur “ _on geek_.”

He reached over, grabbing the bottle from Louis, and gulped some down, eyes closed as he swayed. He looked so loose and almost inviting with his arms out, moving freely. His shirt was completely unbuttoned now and underneath it was smooth, milky skin, inked up and full of meanings that Louis felt like he needed to know. He was itching to touch, as well, but Louis pushed aside these thoughts about Harry, choosing to jump on top of one of the blue couches and dance on them.

That was when Eleanor walked in, a few friends following behind, and they stared at Harry and Louis, stunned, surprised, and confused. The two boys paused their dancing and Louis’ knees wobbled, not finding balance on the soft couch. Harry quickly helped him down and smiled lazily at Eleanor.

“We’re just...dancing,” he slurred.

“And drunk,” Louis pointed out, leaning onto Harry.

“I can see that,” Eleanor said, an amused smile on her face. “Carry on. We’ll just go to my room.” She walked past them toward her bedroom, her two friends following behind and trying to hold in their laughter at the state of Harry and Louis. Once gone, Harry and Louis looked at each other for a moment before breaking into dance again.


	3. january/february

“So, how’s your revenge thing going?” Ed asked, taking a rather large bite of his chicken and jalapenos pizza slice.

“You mean Operation Karma,” Louis corrected him, sipping his can of Coke.

“Right,” Ed grinned, mouth full of pizza and his expression cheeky. Louis narrowed his eyes at him. Ed found their whole plan really funny and always made a point to tell them. But Louis wasn’t going to bother with non-believers and shunners.  

Harry finished chewing and wiped his mouth with a napkin before speaking because he was a well-mannered boy, unlike Ed. “Louis is very specific about what he wants people calling this, so I’d watch it if I were you, Teddy.”

Louis couldn’t even deny it. It was more than just a revenge thing. This was about two years of his life going down the drain because a boy wanted to get laid by multiple people instead. Operation Karma was a mastermind plan that was surely going to avenge not just Louis, but everyone Isaac has ever and will play. They were doing this for the right of society!

“Sorry, _Operation Karma_ ,” Ed corrected. “How’s that going?”

“Amazing,” Louis gloated, patting Harry on the back. “Thanks to our amazing actor here.”

“Harry can’t act for shit,” Niall piped up. He was sitting on Ed’s big blue reclining chair that the ginger haired boy had found one day on the street and decided to bring to his apartment. It brought character into the otherwise small studio. Tonight’s dinner with Ed was low-key as they decided to just bring several boxes of pizza to his place rather than dining out. Niall joined since he was in the mood for pizza and Louis didn’t want to be left out so he came as well.  

Harry looked at Niall with his meanest glare, which wasn’t even that mean, more cute if you asked Louis. “Hey, I _resent_ that. If I couldn’t act, how do you think I’ve been fooling Fuckboy Isaac this entire time?”

Louis tried not to wince at Harry’s nickname for Isaac, it was always a little jarring even though at this point he really didn’t care all that much because it wasn’t like it was untrue. The more time passed since their breakup, the more Louis thought back to certain things about their previous relationship and wondered why he’d put up with it for _two years_ or why he was sad at all _._ This went beyond Isaac’s awful taste in television and music. It had to do with the fact that Louis always went out of his way to hang out with Isaac’s friends and be there for him, but he always acted too busy for Louis. The few times he did make an effort, he was always late and emphasized to Louis just how much he was giving up to spend time with him and his friends. _As if_! Louis knew the only thing Isaac ever cared about was his stupid fucking fraternity that was full of morons who objectified people, more so now with their stupid bet. He had no life outside of that and lacrosse, which was truly pathetic.

So, yes. Isaac was a complete fuckboy, but Louis and Harry were going to make it right by teaching him a lesson with Operation Karma.

Winter break had come and gone, and since then Isaac had texted Harry quite a few times. Every time he did, Harry would call Louis and they’d discuss proper responses that would send the right message. Harry flirted with him, but not so bluntly that Isaac got too cocky for his own good. He was subtle in just the perfect way, keeping Isaac coming back for more. It worked out because when they got back to school in mid January, Isaac asked Harry to come to the party at Pi Kappa Alpha. Harry went, wearing another sheer shirt, with Louis in tow, who’d donned the same blond disguise from the first night to keep up with appearances. He’d even given himself a name -- Alfred -- because Harry said he looked like one.

Harry and Isaac took shots together and danced twice. It wasn’t the fun type of dancing that Harry and Louis did when they got drunk and were home alone, but the dirty kind that made Louis feel weird. His stomach swooshed and he felt unsettled. He wasn’t sure why and he didn’t really want to think about it. Thankfully, Harry left the party before things got out of hand, but Louis knew that they had to kick it up a notch. Clearly his ex was falling for Harry. He was going to need a little more ammunition because flirting and dancing was only going to keep him going for so long.

“I think you need to hook up with Isaac now,” Louis said, dipping his crust in garlic sauce.

Harry snorted, his nostrils flaring, and jerked his shoulders with his laugh. “What?”

“Kiss him,” Louis said slowly as a way of explaining. “And do other hook up stuff. I don’t know.”

The confused look on Harry’s face made the other boys laugh. “You have to seduce him, Harry,” Niall reminded him. “You can’t _seduce_ someone by flirting with them the entire time. You’ve got to give them a little _something, something_.”

“Ew,” Harry wrinkled his nose.

The boys laughed again, mostly at Harry’s reaction, who seemed appalled all of a sudden. “Well, what’s the matter?” Louis asked him.

Harry shrugged unhelpfully. “Just don’t wanna kiss Isaac.”

“It’s not that bad,” Louis offered. “But I don’t want to force you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Harry said, waving him off. “He just seems like the type of guy who tastes like chicken wings and beer.”

Louis burst out laughing, shaking his head. “He doesn’t. Oh my God, Harry. Have some faith in me.”

“I have all the faith in you, just not in your choice in men at the moment,” Harry insisted, looking at Louis closely. “But I’ll do it for you. I’ll hook up with with your ex-boyfriend.”

Louis smiled at him, a small one that only they shared. While Isaac and Harry have been getting closer, Louis and Harry have been getting even more closer. Louis’ phone was constantly buzzing with a new text from Harry and Harry’s fancy boots have got their own special corner in Louis’ apartment. What was great was that they didn’t always talk about Operation Karma or Isaac. They talked about each other’s lives, friends, family, interests and did things they both enjoyed. Louis’ friends loved Harry, too, mostly because he made Louis smile like he used to before Isaac broke his heart.

“Thank you,” Louis said, nudging Harry with his shoulder. “We can head to yours after if you want and I’ll give you some pointers.”

Harry scoffed haughtily. “I think I know how to hook up with someone, Louis. I’m not a blubbering virgin.”

“Are you sure?” Ed asked. “You seemed pretty put out when Louis brought up the whole hooking up thing.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Harry said, glaring at Ed. “I’m an excellent hook up partner. I can do all the things.”

Suddenly, Louis got an image of Harry doing _all the things_ in his head and his face flushed. He cleared his throat, biting into his pizza, hungrily, and finishing chewing before speaking again. “I just meant that I can tell you things that Isaac likes when it comes to hooking up. I know what turns him on the most, so when you do it, he’ll be putty in your hands. Oh, and if you really want to get to his head, you should hook up with him when he’s in a vulnerable state, like after losing a lacrosse game, or something, and he’ll be so into you.”

Harry nodded a few times, like this all made sense, while Ed looked at them with a stunned expression. “You guys are so diabolical and crazy,” he said.

“In what way?” Louis asked him. “Need I remind you what Isaac and his frat are doing?”

“No, I’m not saying that he doesn’t deserve it. It’s just -- I feel like this is the age of the new romantics. Nothing is ever straight forward or genuine anymore. Everyone’s swept up in games and these intense feelings that they’re not sure how to handle. Instead of just being honest and upfront, you all seduce and chase and do _the most_.”

Louis, Harry, and Niall just stared at Ed like he’d grown two heads. Everything he said made sense, but then it also didn’t. Ed realized he was on his own with this one, so he took another slice of pizza. “Right, I’ll just write a song about it instead of discussing this complex topic with you dumb asses.”

♡

Harry pulled out his small pink notepad, sitting beside Louis on his bed, and opened up to a clean page. Louis was sitting cross legged, playing with a loose thread on Harry’s navy blue duvet and wondering why he had four slices of pizza because now his stomach was hurting. He glanced up, observing Harry’s neat bedroom. Harry seemed to be a bit of a clean freak because there wasn't a trace of clothes or trash on the ground _and_ his bed was made. It even smelled good in here. If Louis was lucky and remembered to crack open his window once in awhile, his room didn’t smell like old gym socks and Axe. But his floor was always full of shit and he never made his bed. He felt like such a slob compared to Harry.

“Alright,” Harry said, a mechanical pencil in his hand. “Hooking up.”

“Yeah,” Louis said, voice trailing off. They’d left Ed’s place a half hour ago and during the walk back to Harry’s, he’d thought a lot about this whole aspect of Operation Karma. “I don’t know if we should.”

“What?” Harry frowned, a cute little confused expression on his face. “Why?”

“I’m just not positive you’re comfortable with this. At Ed’s place, you looked really confused and you sounded like you didn’t want to do this.”

“Oh,” Harry responded, realization striking his face. “I was only joking. I mean, I just forgot about it. I knew it would happen when I first agreed, but after getting to know Isaac a bit, he’s just not the kind of guy I want to kiss. That’s all.”

“So you don’t have to,” Louis said. “You really don’t, Harry. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I won’t be,” Harry assured him. “I wouldn’t normally kiss him in a typical setting, like a party or whatever, but for Operation Karma, I’ll do it. I was seriously joking. He’s just not my type. I don’t mind kissing him, though, for this.”

Louis sighed, nudging closer to Harry. “Are you sure, Harry? Because if you’re not then I won’t get, like, mad about it. I’ll totally understand.”

“I am absolutely sure,” Harry insisted, a laugh escaping his delightfully pink lips. “Now can you tell me what he likes so I can write this down?”

Louis smiled despite his initial worries and leaned closer to Harry, looking down at his empty page. “Alright, so Isaac likes being in control.”

Harry gasped. “He dommed you?”

“Oh my God,” Louis flushed, covering his face. “No, I just mean, he liked being the one taking care of me, I guess. He was the big spoon, the top, etc. This is _so_ embarrassing.”

“No, it’s not,” Harry shushed him. “I’ve topped before and I’ve bottomed. Both are respectable and fine. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Louis slowly grinned then, his face still hot, and stared into Harry’s green, green eyes. They reminded him of fresh avocados, the grass on the ground during March, and Wrigley’s spearmint gum. “Are you a little spoon or a big spoon?”

“Little spoon,” Harry replied right away. “Always. I just love being cuddled.”

“Good to know,” Louis waggled his eyebrows at him. “So, yeah. He likes being in control. He’d really like it when, like, he could hold me when we kissed.”

Harry nodded, jotting it down before looking at Louis again. “Okay, what else?”

“He likes his hair played with,” Louis recounted, trying to think back to the many times they’d kissed. It just felt so long ago and the details were starting to get a bit blurry. “He liked touching me a lot. Couldn’t keep his paws off me.”

“Don’t blame him,” Harry winked, exaggeratedly.

Louis rolled his eyes. “Stop.”

“It’s the truth. You’re very sexy, Lou. No one would be able to keep their hands off of you if they had you in that way.”

It wasn’t that Louis was really insecure, but hearing Harry compliment him like this was a little weird. Throughout his relationship with Isaac, Louis had always felt like he was the less-hot one. Isaac carried himself with a bravado of confidence. He openly admitted he was good looking and at the time, it didn’t seem conceited or egotistical. It just seemed like he was more comfortable in his skin. Sure, Isaac complimented Louis a lot, too, but it often felt like he was just saying it to keep Louis happy, which was really fucking sucky to realize. However, now, hearing Harry say it -- someone who was humbly beautiful and completely genuine -- just felt odd. Louis didn’t know how to handle or accept it.

Lost in his thoughts, Louis stared blankly in a daze and didn’t realize that Harry was watching him back. “Um, I have an idea.”

Louis blinked, his train of thought broken. “What’s that?”

“Maybe...maybe you could, you know, like, show me?”

“Show you what?” Louis asked, confused. Harry bit his lip nervously and Louis laughed, soft and amused. “What is it?”

“Just a dumb idea.”

“No such thing.”

“It is.”

“Harry.”

Harry groaned, looking embarrassed all of a sudden. “I was just thinking that maybe you could show me what Isaac likes.”

“Oh,” Louis breathed out. Harry looked down immediately, intently studying his notepad where he’d written a few bullets, scribbles of whatever Louis’d said. His proposition made sense. A bit of practice between two friends couldn’t hurt especially because hands on experience was better than note taking, as Louis would say. More than that, Louis realized, he wanted to do this. And _maybe_ not for coaching or teaching purposes. Maybe just because Harry had cherry red lips and green eyes that had Louis feeling a mixture of things he wasn’t ready to closely examine yet.

He took Harry’s notepad, putting it to the side, and within a second was on Harry’s lap. Harry’s eyes bugged out, looking at Louis in awe as he settled down, his thighs on either side of Harry’s. “Um,” Harry mumbled, awkwardly, scratching his ear.

“Yeah,” Louis responded absentmindedly, sitting over the tops of Harry’s thighs. They stared at each other for a while and it seemed to go on for longer than it should have. Louis finally reached over, taking Harry’s hand, and placed it over his waist. Harry’s fingers slowly gripped. Then Louis took his other hand and put it right over his butt. “These are, um, good spots. Usually Isaac had them there when we, like, kissed and stuff.”

“Oh,” Harry nodded, though he looked a little dazed still. His lips were dry, mouth still parted in surprise, even though he was the one who suggested that Louis demonstrated.

“And then, usually, I just put my hands here,” Louis continued, his hands cupping the back of Harry’s neck. He couldn’t help but let his fingers run through Harry’s curls at the bottom. They were soft and it made Harry’s eyes flutter in pleasure.

They sat there for a few moments, wrapped up and close, and it got so quiet that Louis could hear their hearts beating, loud and erratic. It felt like everyone could hear them, even the neighbours. He wasn’t sure what they were waiting for, just that Harry’s eyes kept dropping down to his lips and Louis couldn’t stop staring back. They were friends -- this shouldn’t be this hard. Louis had gotten very handsy with all of his friends and he never felt his heart jackrabbit or his stomach jump like this. He wasn’t even sure if what they were doing could be considered practicing or teaching when they were really trying to build up the courage to just look at each other and be close. For some reason it was difficult and a frenzy of feelings filled Louis.

“Do something,” he breathed out, a laugh escaping his lips. Harry smiled slowly and things seemed to ease up a little.

And then -- just when Louis thought Harry wasn’t going to do anything and realize this was a mistake -- Harry pulled him even closer by gripping his butt, causing Louis to jolt forward. Harry tipped his head up quickly and then caught Louis’ lips in a soft kiss. Louis let out a mix between a low grunt from the surprise and a soft moan after sinking into Harry’s lips. His hands clutched onto Harry’s shoulders and for a long moment everything just went blank in his head before it exploded.

Because Harry didn’t need any practice kissing. He didn’t need Louis to show him anything. Harry was an expert, his lips gentle yet with a touch of soft pressure. His tongue, smooth as velvet, moved with practiced ease, coaxing Louis’ mouth open and sliding in. Louis sucked in air through his nose, refusing to break the kiss, and tried to match Harry’s skills. It’d been a good five months since he’d last been kissed, so he was rusty, but Harry didn’t seem to think so if the sounds he was making were anything to go by. His hands roamed Louis’ body freely, giving gentle squeezes to his backside every now and then, just like Louis told him.

Time meant nothing and had no place there. They kissed unhurried yet passionately, letting their bodies control them as they craved more and more and more. Louis felt himself growing harder with every touch and every kiss, yet he didn’t move away because he could feel Harry hard beneath him. It didn’t help that they both wore skinny jeans and everything just felt tight and hot, making Louis dizzy with how much he wanted to do nothing else except for have Harry exactly like this.

Pretty soon they were rutting against each other and at last Harry broke the kiss, staring up at Louis with eyes that were darker than he’d ever seen them. He looked wrecked and that in turn made Louis feel like one. Harry’s hair was all mussed from Louis pulling on it, his eyes were wide and frantic, and his lips, puffy, pink and bitten. Fuck. He was beautiful.

Louis leaned down to kiss him again, rolling his hips along with it, and Harry let out a strangled moan in his mouth. Harry moved with Louis, the two of them desperate at this point, searching for more friction. When they came, it was quiet, save for their labored breaths, neither moving away from their spots.

He knew Harry wasn’t the type to let things get weird for reasons like this, but Louis couldn’t be sure. They’d just made out and came together, something that wasn’t even the intention of whatever they were trying to do at first. So he waited for Harry to say something, but Harry just looked back at him, his expression expectant as well.

Louis cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows at Harry, and Harry tilted his head to the side. “Um,” he mumbled. “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Louis repeated.

“That was -- that, um, you know,” Harry mumbled.

“Yes,” Louis replied, just as well-spoken.

“It wasn’t weird, right?” Harry shook his head. “Like, we’re people.”

“Humans,” Louis agreed. “Humans react to things like that. It’s natural. I mean...we were doing this for a specific purpose and our bodies just did the rest.”

“ _Yes_!” Harry nodded. “That’s exactly it. We’re humans. We can’t just...not do what our bodies want sometimes, you know? We had to go on. It was natural instinct and stuff. Biology, if you will.”

“Totally.”

“So it’s not weird?” Harry asked.

“No, not at all,” Louis shook his head. Just then, he realized he was still sitting on Harry’s lap, so he slid off, settling down on the bed beside him, and Harry looked at him with a small smile. Louis smiled back, trying to will his heart rate to slow down. It was fine, honestly. Louis got worried for nothing because Harry was clearly fine with it. This was just two friends getting off together this one time. It was surely not the first time something like this happened between a pair of platonic friends. It was normal!

In fact, Louis wasn’t even going to remember this in the grand scheme of things. He wasn’t going to think about it at all come tomorrow.

♡

All Louis could think about was making out with Harry and getting off with him.

It was just there -- _constantly_ on his mind. When he woke up, when he watched shit TV with Zayn and ate cereal, when he went to class, when he did school work, when he ate dinner with his friends in the dining hall, and when he went to bed. It was always there, a niggling little reminder that he made out and came with one of his closest friends.

Sure, at first he’d thought it wouldn’t be an issue, but it wasn’t like Louis’ track record of being right was really all that great. He was only human and prone to making mistakes. He was also only human and gave into his animalistic instincts to rut against Harry until he was coming into his pants like a fucking teenager. It was so strange thinking back to it because Louis’d never come untouched with Isaac before. But it was _fine_ because nothing seemed to have changed. Harry still hung out with him and they were still the same as ever. The only thing that Louis could say had changed was the way he was suddenly looking at Harry.

Louis was, of course, always aware of how gorgeous Harry was. This was not a revelation because anyone with eyes could see Harry was literal sex on legs. However, he’d never felt so struck by it as he did now. He never felt the new flutter in his stomach when Harry smiled at him or had his heart race every time Harry touched him. Louis was suddenly affected by Harry’s presence in an entirely different way and he was _shook_.

Operation Karma was, thankfully, put on hold since there was an onslaught of projects and assignments for both the boys. Louis couldn’t think about getting revenge on Isaac with all the school work deadlines coming up. But that didn’t stop Louis and Harry from hanging out, though, as they took up residence in the library and joked around more than they actually got things done.

“So,” Louis said on January 31st, kicking Harry’s feet under the table.

Harry glanced up from his assignment paper where he was bent down, writing something with the cutest frown between his brows. Even his concentrating expression was beautiful. Louis had a real fucking problem. “What?” Harry asked.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow,” Louis reminded him with a pointed look. “Doing anything?”

Harry shook his head. “Already had a dinner thing with Eleanor, Niall, and Ed last weekend.”

Louis kicked him hard on the shin and Harry groaned out loud, reaching down to rub at the spot. “What the _fuck_?”

“Why wasn’t I invited?” Louis hissed, glaring at him.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t even know they were planning it. And I think it’s probably because it was at Niall’s place, which is really small, and if they invited you, they’d have to invite all your friends, too.”

“Not true,” Louis pouted, crossing his arms. “I’m upset. And offended. I’m going to unfriend and unfollow Niall everywhere.”

“ _Lou_ ,” Harry cooed, looking at him with big, wide eyes. “Don’t be upset. I’m sure Niall didn’t mean anything by it.” Louis refused to respond, sitting there with his lips in a round pout as he looked in the direction of the bookshelves. The autobiography section, he believed. Harry nudged Louis with his foot, trying to coax him to turn around again. “Please don’t be sad. I’ll make it up to you. Do you want to do something tomorrow night? Just you and me?”

“Maybe,” Louis finally said. “If I stop feeling as betrayed as I am now.”

“You shouldn’t,” Harry told him. “I spend more time with you than I do with them and they’re super jealous since they’re the only friends I have.”

Finally, Louis looked at Harry, a small smile on his lips. “Why are you _such_ a loser?”

Harry grinned and leaned toward Louis. “You literally became one of my best friends in such a short amount of time, and I’m just obsessed with you. So please don’t be sad. You didn’t miss anything special. Niall just bought everyone Hot Pockets from Stop ‘N Shop and served it on these floral print plates his mom made him bring from home.”

“I still would have eaten that. Did they at least get you cake?”

“Eleanor bought me one from Carvel. I even have some leftover. You can have it.”

“I will!”

“And I’ll get some booze tomorrow night so we can get a little drunk. I’ve been working on a   Britney Spears playlist we can dance to.”

“Okay,” Louis nodded a few times. “Let’s do this. I’ll come over after my last class. And don’t invite Niall!”

Harry laughed. “I won’t. It’ll just be you and me.”

♡

_It’s Britney, bitch._

The thumping bass to “Gimme More” began and Louis and Harry lined up, front to back, swaying their hands and hips to the music, passing a  bottle of Jägermeister  between them. They were almost through with their drinks while having been jamming out to the top Britney hits for the past hour or so. It was the perfect de-stresser after all the school work they’d been doing the past couple of days.

“ _I see you_ ,” Harry mouthed along to Britney, turning Louis around so that they were facing and looking at each other. “ _And I just wanna dance with you_.” He pointed his pointer finger at the other boy, pulling Louis in by his waist with his other hand. Louis went easily, happy and pliant, while Harry moved them to the beat. Up this close, his eyes looked as green as ever. Like sour apples, sliced kiwis, and McDonald’s Shamrock Shake.

_Every time they turn the lights down._

_Just wanna go that extra mile with you._

Harry rolled his hips against Louis’ and Louis tried not to look affected by that. They’d been dancing like friends all this time -- silly and stupid. But as they became progressively more drunk the dancing became less and less like _just friends_. Harry closed his eyes, gyrating slowly, and tucked his face in Louis’ neck. Feeling frustrated and a little horny, Louis quickly finished the bottle drink, taking the last few drops before putting it down. Before he could do anything, Harry leaned back, looking at Louis with pupils blown wide.

“I think we should do that thing,” he said.

“What thing?” Louis asked.

“Um, where you, like, show me how to kiss,” Harry said, words slurred.

Louis couldn’t help but laugh, eyes crinkling. He was too drunk to think this through like he wanted to, but he wasn’t drunk enough to not tease Harry about it. “What? Harry, c’mon. You know how to kiss and we both know that. What do you _really_ want me to show you?”

Harry groaned, looking frustrated as he pushed Louis backward slowly. “Just want you to show me that thing you were showing me how to do that day.”

“That doesn’t clear anything up,” Louis told him. They were in Harry’s bedroom now, music still pulsing in the background from the living room. “You’re going to have to be more elaborate.”

“Just shut up and kiss me,” Harry mumbled, tugging Louis closer to his body. Louis immediately reacted, kissing him back while his hands tucked around Harry’s neck. They made it to Harry’s bed and Louis fell back first, crawling backward while Harry hovered over him.

Louis’ head hit the pillow and Harry bit down just below his jaw, making Louis hiss both in pain and pleasure. If Harry was trying to leave a mark, Louis wasn’t about to stop him, even though explaining this to everyone was going to be weird. Harry’s mouth was all Louis thought about these past few days. He felt feverish with how good it actually felt to have it on him again. When Harry looked back at Louis, the two of them stared at each other before kissing again. Louis breathed Harry in, lips parted and tongues already sliding.

Harry spread Louis’ thighs apart, resting himself between them, while continuing to kiss him. Louis thread his fingers through Harry’s hair and cupped his neck. It felt so easy to fall into this again. Louis knew that they were drunk, but Harry kissed him with purpose, like he was memorizing the trace and taste of his mouth.  

Harry broke away after a while, pressing stray kisses on Louis’ chin as his hands traveled down Louis’ body and toward the button of his jeans. He looked to Louis for permission and Louis’ eyes widened, surprised but also _so_ turned on. He nodded and Harry smiled, popping the button open before sliding the zipper down. Last time getting off together had just kind of _happened_ , but from his purposeful actions tonight it seemed Harry wanted a repeat. If they were doing this for real  Louis was glad he wouldn’t have to wash cum stains off his jeans again.

Harry slowly tugged his jeans down and Louis blushed at the fact that he was already half hard. When he looked at Harry, he saw that the other boy was licking his lips, eyes zeroing in on where he was getting harder. He pulled the rest of the jeans off, pushing them to the edge of the bed before cupping Louis in his palm, rubbing slowly over his briefs. Louis’ hips bucked up slightly, wanting more, and Harry took that as a sign to pull his boxer briefs off, too. With his lower half exposed and Harry looking at him like he wanted to pounce, Louis was fully hard, cock curving up toward his tummy.

“I just -- I want to,” Harry, not so clearly, explained. He gestured at Louis’ erection, making a whimpered noise.

“Do it,” Louis prompted, voice hoarse. “Fuck. What are you even waiting for?”

Harry’s lips were suddenly sucking at the top of Louis’ tip and he gasped. Clearly, Louis wasn’t waiting for _that._ He’d thought Harry would just tug one off, but this was even better. He let out a small moan, hand reaching out to tuck Harry’s hair off his face, watching as Harry sucked Louis down, slowly. His mouth was hot and hungry, taking in more and more, and Louis felt like he was suddenly burning up. Harry sank down until he had all of Louis in his mouth.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Louis hissed, fighting the urge to not buck up into Harry’s mouth. It was wet, lush, and absolutely perfect. Louis wanted to be in there forever.

Soon, Harry started to bob his head up and down, slicking up Louis’ cock with his own spit along with the precome dribbling from his tip. He seemed so immersed in it and his concentration was driving Louis insane. He couldn’t believe Harry actually tried to lure him in here with the pretense that he wanted to practice when the boy knew everything in the book. He was good -- _really good_. Probably the best blowjob Louis had ever gotten and he hadn’t even come yet.

Louis continued to run his fingers through Harry’s hair, moaning out his name every now and then. He felt wrecked, especially when Harry changed tactics and opted to lick stripes up the vein on Louis’ cock instead. “So good, Harry,” Louis mumbled. “Fucking hell.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, finally looking up at him. His eyes were dark, lashes thick and clumped, and Louis just wanted to devour him. He quickly sat up, pulling Harry down under him. Within seconds, Harry’s jeans and briefs were off, and his cock sprang free, hard and leaking. Louis admired it for a moment, stroking it with his fist and slicking it up.

He looked back at Harry before sinking his lips down and Harry let out the most delicious moan he’d ever heard in his entire life. He tasted sweet  and Louis hungrily sucked him down until he felt his gag reflexes kicking in. He clearly didn’t have the dick sucking powers that Harry did, but he made up for it by gripping Harry and pumping whatever he couldn’t cover. Back in the living room, “Gimme More” was just ending and soon replaced by “I’m A Slave 4 U.” Louis wondered if Harry had this all timed out.

When he looked at him, he found Harry looking right back at him, lips parted, all red and gorgeous. Louis wanted to kiss him again, so he quickly pulled his lips off his cock, crawling up his body. Harry seemed to have understood, grabbing Louis by the shoulders and pulling him in for a heated kiss, lips messily sliding together. Louis let his hand trail up Harry’s shirt, feeling goosebumps rise up on his skin, and he slowly rubbed over one of his nipple’s before squeezing the nub between his fingers.

Harry let out a hiss into Louis’ mouth. “Shit,” he gritted out. “A bit sensitive there.”

Louis wanted to get his mouth on him again, but also didn’t want to stop kissing. He wanted to be all over him until there was nothing left. Their hips aligned, cocks rubbing against one another, and they both let out breathy moans, breathing heavily.

“I really want you to come in my mouth,” Louis said before widening his eyes. Did he actually say that out loud? He wasn’t sure what they could and could not say to each other since they were still _just friends_ , but then again, they were practically naked and getting off together for the second time. It wasn’t like there was anything left to be embarrassed about.

Harry, for the most part, just looked at Louis like he was going to come right then and there from his words alone. “You, too. Want you to come on me, too,” he said, nodded. “Flip around. We’ll do it together.”

Holy shit, Louis thought, quickly turning around until he was hovering over Harry’s cock while his own cock was over Harry’s face. He gripped Harry in his fist, pumping him a few times before taking him in his mouth again. At the same time, Harry licked at his tip, enveloping it with his sinful, unfair lips, and Louis couldn’t help but moan. Louis tried to focus on the task at hand, but Harry was steadily sucking, swirling his tongue in this amazing way, and it was just so distracting. How did people ever do this 69 stuff? It was hard! Like Harry’s cock.

Louis took a deep breath, licking up Harry’s shaft before wrapping his lips around it. He continued to sink down until Harry did the swirly thing with his tongue again and he moaned, causing Harry’s cock to vibrate, which made Harry cry out in pleasure. They were a mess and Louis couldn’t help but want to laugh. Harry went back to sucking the tip of Louis’ cock, tongue working over the slit and head, while Louis reached down to fondle Harry’s balls. As he mouthed along Harry’s length, rubbing his thumb over Harry’s tip, Harry came with a shout, gripping Louis’ thighs to control himself.

Louis was definitely going to bruise there, he thought. He sat up, turning around to look at Harry, who looked debauched and completely blissful. His hair was wild and everywhere, fanning out against his pillow, while his cheeks had a red flush to them. He grinned at Louis, curving his finger and ushering him to come forward. Louis did with a smile of his own.

“You’ve got come on your hair and cheek,” Harry giggled, cleaning up the bit on his cheek with his fingers. “Sorry I missed.”

“It’s alright,” Louis said, guiding Harry’s fingers to his mouth and sucking on them. Harry looked at him for a moment before tugging him in by the back of his neck for a kiss. Louis moaned into it, hips grinding down since he’d still not come and was still unbearably hard. Harry reached between them, tugging and swiping his thumb over the tip, and soon Louis was coming, too, lips still attached to Harry’s while his hips stuttered.

♡

Louis was eating chocolate chip eggos when he received a Snapchat from Harry. “Pass me the juice,” he asked Liam while unlocking his phone and opening the app. Liam passed the orange juice bottle to him and Louis poured himself some in his Spider-Man mug. Harry’s Snapchat loaded and Louis clicked on it. It was a white, crusted stain over a navy blue duvet. The caption read:

_Is this my cum stain or yours????????????????_

Louis stared in disbelief before snorting out loud and replaying the snap to see it again. When he did, he let out a chortle of laughter, replying back:

_not sure...maybe check for some name or initials???_

He sent the reply and turned back to his eggo, taking a big bite. When he looked up, Liam and Zayn were both staring at him, eyebrows raised. “What’s so funny?” Zayn asked.

“Oh,” Louis breathed out, still grinning. His throat itched and sounded scratchy, so he cleared it. “Harry just sent me a funny snap.”

“Of what?” Liam asked with a grin.

Louis bit his bottom lip, wondering how he could word this. He wasn’t sure how his friends would react if they found out he was hooking up with Harry and that they were able to joke about it. He just wasn’t ready to explain that, really. “Nothing important,,” he finally replied.

“Damn,” Zayn lamented before fixing Louis with a frown. “Are you feeling alright? You sound like you have a sore throat.”

“Do I?” Louis asked. His throat had been feeling scratchy all morning, but he hadn’t actively thought much about it. It was also a bit sore.

“Yeah, did you catch a cold?” Liam asked, concerned.

Louis shook his head and that was when it hit him. He’d gone down on Harry twice the night before. After the first time, Harry left his bedroom to go turn off the music, get them a wet towel, and some snacks. They had cleaned themselves off and eaten some cookies in Harry’s bed and started kissing again when Louis decided Harry deserved a birthday blow job, too. Harry didn't refuse and Louis tried to deepthroat him, which didn't work out that well since Harry was so huge. This was probably why he had a sore and scratchy throat.

“What’s the update on Operation Karma?” Zayn asked him, randomly. “We haven’t gotten any updates for a while.”

“Hmm,” Louis mumbled, confused for a second and lost in his thoughts about blowing Harry, before he realized. “Oh, well, it’s going ok. We haven’t actually done anything since I last updated you guys.”

Other than hook up, he thought to himself. The memories of it came flooding back and Louis sat there, finishing his eggos, and trying to look as inconspicuous as he could. He didn’t want the boys knowing he was thinking about sex while eating breakfast. Even the thought of it sounded unsanitary. But Louis couldn’t help it. He felt mad with the feelings he had forming inside of him for Harry. It was more than lust that was building and it was undeniable.

Being reminded of Operation Karma and realizing he’d completely forgotten about it for a good while was huge, too. It meant that Louis was slowly starting to not care about Harry seducing Isaac anymore. Louis barely thought much about Isaac at all nor did he miss him. When they first broke up, Louis thought of him all the time and felt like he needed him back in his life in order to feel better again. But he didn't. He never did. Sure, he wanted him, but that wasn’t the same as _needing_ someone. He’d mixed those two up and it was nice to finally understand.

Isaac broke Louis’ heart, but Louis’ heart was still his own, pieces and all. It never belonged to Isaac, whole or broken, and that felt good to finally know.

Isaac felt like a distant memory, one Louis was quickly forgetting. He could barely picture the other boy when he tried to. He was forgetting everything -- the color of his eyes, the sound of his voice, and the way he made Louis feel.

Instead, Louis’ mind was being filled with different and better things. Like the sound of Harry’s laugh, the green of his eyes, and the way he made Louis happy and carefree.

♡

“You taste like strawberries,” Harry grinned, ducking down to press his mouth against Louis’ again. Louis kissed him back for a moment before pulling away.

“I stole some of Gigi’s strawberries since she had a fruit salad for lunch,” Louis informed him.

“Yum,” Harry said, kissing him again. He couldn’t -- or _wouldn’t_ \-- stop. They’d been lazily making out on Louis’ bed since Harry came over an hour ago under the pretense of doing homework together. After Louis let him in, Harry sauntered over to the bedroom and spread his books out on Louis’ bed. Louis brought them some snacks and did the same, taking out his laptop to write his paper until Harry pushed his laptop aside and climbed on top of him, pulling him into a sweet kiss.

So this was a thing they were going to be doing now, it seemed. Louis was all for it. In fact, he was glad nothing was awkward and neither were going to act like they didn’t _want_ to kiss. Kissing was one of the best activities, in Louis’ opinion, and Harry seemed to agree.

Unlike the last two times, they weren’t desperate to get off, but rather content to just kiss. Sometimes heated, sometimes slow. They moved their books to Louis’ desk and Harry laid on his side next to Louis, one of his legs draped over Louis’ waist. His hair was slightly damp since he showered before he came and he smelled like tangerine soap, something Louis realized he loved.

“Lou,” Harry mumbled against Louis’ lips.

“Hmm?” Louis hummed, looking into Harry’s eyes. Pine trees, green ivy, turtles, and frogs.

“You’re, like, the best kisser I’ve ever kissed. I really like kissing you,” he said, a dopey smile on his face.

Something filled Louis’ chest, making it expand until he felt like it would explode for the boy in front of him. He was smitten, free falling, and catching these feelings he’d once thought he’d never be able to feel again.

“I feel the same way about you, Harry,” Louis whispered bashfully.

Harry grinned, his cheeks pink and dimpled. “Come here.” he said. Louis shifted closer, tugging Harry’s thigh up further on his waist while their lips pressed together again.


	4. march/april

It had been far too long since Louis had gone to a party without a disguise on while trailing after Harry to keep an eye on him and Isaac. In fact, he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d gone to a party simply to enjoy, get drunk, and have a smashing time. Not that Louis didn’t appreciate getting drunk with Harry in their apartments and dancing stupidly to Harry’s carefully curated Spotify playlists. He loved those nights very much, but there was something else about letting loose at a dumb party and having fun with your best friends. So when Gigi started a group chat with all of their friends, as well as Harry, Niall, and Eleanor, announcing a big house party happening a few blocks away from campus, Louis was all for it.

The party was just getting started when they all arrived with their six packs and a joint from Zayn. It was being hosted by a group of seniors who had rented out this massive house on the outskirts of their college town. Despite the big space, it was still crawling with people everywhere. The crowd was mostly juniors and seniors, but Louis was able to spot a few freshmen who’d found their way in from their jittery, excited expressions, as well as the way they were drinking too much, too fast.

Harry chuckled beside Louis. “Remember when we were that age?” He gestured over to a group of freshmen girls who’d just shot-gunned Four Lokos under a minute.

“That was literally you last year, Harry,” Louis snapped jokingly. “Stop making fun of the young ones!”

“ _Hey_!” Harry frowned adorably. “It’s more like me three years ago since I’m nearly a junior now.”

“ _Nearly_ ,” Louis laughed. “You’ve still got, like, half the semester to go before you can go and call yourself a junior.”

“Keep your mocking tone and comments to yourself, you old man.”

Louis laughed, loud and bright. “Honestly can’t believe I’m going to be a senior next year,” he marveled upon realization. Time was just not real sometimes. It moved so fucking quick. Wasn’t September, like, _yesterday_? Harry and Eleanor had thrown that first party of the year and Louis met Harry in the kitchen, drunk and sad. Everything seemed like it _just_ happened, but it also felt like it was so long ago because so much had gone down since then.

Harry smiled at Louis as though he knew exactly what Louis was thinking. “Are you excited?”

“A bit, yeah,” Louis nodded. “Don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do after, but it’s cool. It’ll be like closing a chapter, you know?”

“Yeah, of course. And don’t worry about not knowing what you want to do after graduating. I don’t think anyone really does. It’s a scary transition, but life’s all about those.”

Louis agreed with him, however, the quiet mood was lost when someone started  puking in the bushes beside them. They were separate from the crowd, but Louis wouldn’t have it any other way. Harry hadn’t left his side all night and he was feeling a bit giddy about it. Louis leaned further into Harry’s side and Harry wrapped an arm around him instinctively.

Things had definitely shifted between them since they started hooking up. They hadn’t had full on sex, but they kissed almost every time they met up. Sometimes it was chaste and silly, other times it was a bit heated with orgasms that followed. But they hadn’t had any sort of ‘relationship talk’ yet. Louis just felt like everything that had happened between him and Harry had flowed naturally, so he’d like this part to as well. There were never any games with him. Everything Harry felt or thought, Louis knew, and he never had to second guess or wonder. It was different and none of it was dramatic or difficult, which was a nice for a change.

Harry’s hand felt warm against Louis’ side and he just wanted to sink into him, but they were out to have fun with their friends, so Louis had to make sure he was spending time with them as well. He’d been neglecting his other friends in favor of hanging out with Harry these past couple of weeks and he’d like to make it up to them. They were all outside in the yard of the house since the weather was starting to get a bit warmer. The girls were sitting on a few patio chairs, drinking and talking about the new _Pretty Little Liars_ season. Zayn, Liam, and Niall were passing the joint between themselves and laughing about something Louis couldn’t hear. He and Harry had somehow drifted toward a different corner of the patio, leaning against the railing.

“I think I’m going to get something to drink,” Harry said to Louis. “Do you want something?”

“Sure. Surprise me.”

Harry gave Louis’ waist a squeeze before making his way back into the house. Louis drifted over to the boys and joined in their conversation. “What are we talking about?” he asked.

“Niall was just telling us about how he’s been writing songs with Ed,” Zayn responded.

“Oh, wow,” Louis said. “What’ve you guys written?”

“Just a few random tunes,” Niall replied. “Ed’s always got such a creative mindset and even though I’m studying business, I love music and I’ve taught myself how to play the guitar, so we just jammed a few times and somehow ended up with a few songs.”

“I’d love to hear them,” Liam smiled, sipping his drink. “I’m a bit of a singer myself and so is Zayn. He’s probably better than me.” Liam clapped Zayn on the shoulder and Zayn flushed under his compliment.

“Please, Liam. Reign it in. I’m not that good.”

“Not that good? Are you joking? You’re, like, the best singer I know, Z.”

“I’d love to hear,” Niall said. “We should do a karaoke night. Harry and Eleanor has a karaoke machine at their place.”

“That would be sick,” Liam nodded excitedly. “When can we do it? How about tomorrow night?”

“Can’t,” Louis quickly said. “Harry and I’ve got a movie to catch. Maybe the following weekend?”

“I could do that,” Liam said before frowning. “Where is Harry, anyway?”

“He went to get drinks, but I’m sure he’d be down for it.”

The boys continued to hatch out a plan, talking about the different songs they’d want to sing, what they could order in to eat, and whether or not they should turn this into a massive slumber party. Eleanor said it was fine with her, but they’d obviously also have to ask Harry as well. Louis frowned, realizing it was taking Harry a rather long time getting the drinks, so he slipped away from their group and headed inside to find him.

Somehow, the crowd had gotten thicker since they’d arrived; people could barely find room to walk, or move for that matter. Louis made his way into the dining room where the drinks were on a long table. At first, Louis couldn’t see Harry because there were so many people in there, but Louis spotted the back of Harry’s royal blue beanie in the corner of the room, talking to someone.

Louis started to make his way over only to realize it was Isaac who was talking to Harry. His eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t thought that Isaac would show up to this since his frat did their own parties, but there he was. Louis couldn’t see Harry, but he felt awful because they hadn’t discussed Isaac in weeks. For some reason, the whole seduction plan became the least of their worries. Harry was probably panicked and unsure of what to do, since he wasn’t prepared for this.

He had to do something to help Harry out. Louis got closer and closer, trying to stay away from Isaac’s eyesight and catch Harry’s, instead. But then, out of nowhere, Isaac just leaned in and kissed Harry square on the mouth in the middle of the crowded room, and Louis felt the ground beneath him disappear.

Something shifted inside of him, something ugly and awful. This was worse than the feeling he’d gotten when he saw Isaac kissing another boy at the Halloween party. Louis’ mind went staticy blank, and all he could see was the way Isaac grabbed a hold of Harry by his waist and kissed him with his eyes closed. Louis felt so stupid. Harry said he didn’t even want to kiss Isaac, but he wasn’t exactly stopping him now. Doubts formed in Louis’ mind. All this time, he’d been so sure that he and Harry were on the right track, but seeing this just made everything confusing.

Harry wouldn’t be in this position had it not been for Louis and his stupid Operation Karma. _Louis_ did this and now he had to reap what he’d sown. As the kiss continued, Louis looked away, trying to find a way out, but it was so _fucking_ crowded. When he glanced back, he saw Harry say something to Isaac before walking away. He was probably going back to the yard, probably had Louis’ drink with him, but Louis couldn’t face him just yet. He couldn’t get the image of Harry kissing his ex-boyfriend out of his head and his skin was crawling. How could Louis have wanted this to happen? He was training Harry for it -- building this up week after week. And now that it finally did, all he wanted was to take it all back and start over with Harry.

After much shoving and maneuvering, Louis finally found the stairs that led to the second floor, and made his way up. Thankfully, there was an empty room with a single bed, so Louis walked inside, closing the door behind him and locking it. He walked over to the bed and collapsed on it, letting out a deep breath. Seeing what he’d just seen had put so many things into perspective.

When Harry and Louis had first met, Louis was still stuck in his old form, one that’d loved Isaac completely and was willing to do anything to get him back because he missed him so much. But a part of Louis always knew it wasn’t going to work that way because there was no big fight or blow out or misunderstanding. Isaac left all on his own, probably after putting a lot of thought into it. Louis’ anger about that had faded and he’d never even realized _when_ that had happened.

Louis didn’t miss Isaac anymore. He didn’t even want anything to do with him. He was no longer the person who loved Isaac. He couldn’t even recognize that person anymore, his life had just kept moving forward, changing him on its own. He was completely new, surrounded by new people, and quite possibly new love. He liked Harry. He liked Harry _a lot_ , and he wondered why he thought it was a good idea to go through with Operation Karma. Looking back now, it was stupid and, in a way selfish too. Harry didn’t need to be dragged into any of this, but he did it willingly and Louis knew it was because Harry cared about him. Louis might go as far as saying that Harry probably liked him back as well, though he’d never said it out loud to him. If they had gotten to know each other without Operation Karma, maybe Harry would ben kissing Louis at this party instead of Isaac.

Louis’ phone vibrated twice in a row, shaking him out of his thoughts. He reached into his pockets, pulling it out to see he’d gotten a text from Zayn and then Harry. He opened Harry’s first.

_Hey where are you? Zayn said you went looking for me. I’m back in the yard._

Louis sighed softly, opening up Zayn’s text next.

_harrys looking for you and he’s looking a little distressed. where did u go???_

Louis quickly typed out a response to Zayn and then let out another deep, dramatic sigh.

_I’m upstairs in some empty bedroom i found. Come up bc i need to talk….and also bring liam bc otherwise he’ll feel left out_

Ten minutes later, a knock came at the door. “Louis,” he heard Zayn’s voice say. “It’s us. Are you in there? Please say yes. I just interrupted two people having sex next door and don’t want to do it again.”

Louis stifled a laugh as he got up from the bed and walked over. He opened it, letting his two best friends walk through before promptly closing and locking it again. “Isaac kissed Harry,” he said, swiveling around to face them. Zayn had sat down on the bed and Liam was snooping through the desk of whoever’s room this was.

“Shit,” Zayn muttered. “Then what happened?”

Louis raised his eyebrows at him. “That’s it. They kissed and I hated it. I _completely_ hated it!”

“But why?” Liam asked. “Wasn’t that a part of Operation Karma? It’s what you wanted, right?”

Crap. His friends didn’t even know about the advancement of his and Harry’s friendship. He quickly gave them a run through, not detailing some of the dirtier bits. “So now I’m just having doubts, I guess, and I feel so stupid. Harry didn’t try to stop Isaac from kissing him, but he also only talked to Isaac because I made him. And now I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you mean?” Liam asked, his thick brows furrowing. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“What is, Liam?” Louis cocked his head to the side, shooting the other boy a look. If it was so obvious, Louis would have known, thank you very much.

“What you have to do is go downstairs to Harry and tell him that you like him. Simple as that. It’s obvious he likes you, too. It’s _been_ obvious to everyone everywhere that you two like each other, but for some reason, Isaac’s been stuck in the middle of you two when he should have been old history.”

Zayn and Louis blinked at Liam, not expecting that at all. Liam wasn’t usually so perceptive, but he was completely right. Louis was just being a coward. “I agree with Liam,” Zayn said then. “I know you feel bad for dragging Harry into this, but Harry’s not holding that against you. I know he knows that you loved Isaac a lot and that you were hurt when you planned all this. Harry agreeing to do this is not on you because he’s an adult who made that decision. But it’s up to you now to make a move and straighten things out.”

“Yeah, Lou,” Liam agreed. “And honestly, you may be a little scared going into this with Harry, but you don’t have to be. You got out of a relationship where you were blindsided so you might be hesitant in rushing and making it official, but Harry isn’t Isaac. He’s better, somehow. I feel like Harry complements you in a way that Isaac never did.”

Louis peered over at him, smiling softly. “Yeah?” He hadn’t thought of it like that -- that he was scared of making things official with Harry because he was still carrying the hurt that came from Isaac. But Harry and Isaac didn’t really compare, like Liam said. Louis shouldn’t think all boys were like Isaac.

“One hundred percent,” Liam nodded.

Zayn continued, “When you and Isaac were together, it always felt like he was trying to overshadow you in every possible way. Trying to be the better one, but you’re not meant to overshadowed or outshined, Lou. You shine so fucking bright, and with Harry we can see that because he lets you shine. He looks at you like you’re the sun and the funniest person he knows.”

Liam smiled. “He’s right. You and Harry shine together.”

Louis laughed, trying to fight the grin off his face. “God, you guys are so fucking corny.”

“We just want you to be happy,” Zayn said. “And we know that you don’t need anyone to be happy, but Isaac really brought you down for a bit, scarily so, but Harry brought you back. You’re smiling again and you’re doing it for yourself.”

“Alright,” Louis finally agreed. “I’ll go talk to Harry.”

♡

When Louis finally made it downstairs and back to the yard, he felt a lot more confident with how he was feeling. He sought Harry out immediately, finding him talking with the girls, all of them holding glasses of wine as though they were at a soiree and not a rager. Louis approached them, his eyes connecting with Harry right away as the other boy looked up at him.

“Hey, there you are,” Harry said. “I was looking for you. I got you a drink, but then Niall stole it.”

“Then Harry got us wine,” Sophia smiled, raising her glass up to show Louis.

“My pleasure. I do love a good glass of red,” Harry added.

Louis tried to keep his expression neutral and not smile at Harry like he was the cutest thing he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing, but he mostly failed. How did Harry even find actual wine glasses here? Louis clasped his hands behind his back and leaned toward Harry. “Wanna get out of here?”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded without missing a beat. He drank the rest of his wine before placing the glass on a small table between the patio chairs. He got up, waving goodbye to the girls before following Louis out. They made it onto the sidewalk, heading toward their homes slowly. Harry cleared his throat before speaking. “I have something I need to tell you.”

“What’s up?” Louis asked, though he was 99.9% sure he knew what Harry was about to say.

“Isaac was at the party,” Harry admitted, looking down at the pavement. “I bumped into when I went to get our drinks and he just, like, cornered me. I didn’t really know what to do, but I talked to him to keep up pretenses. He was asking me why I haven’t been texting him lately or come to his parties. And then...then he, um, kissed me.”

Harry looked at Louis, his expression almost scared as he searched Louis’ face for a reaction. Louis nodded his head in response. “Oh, yeah. I saw you.”

“You did?” Harry asked.

“Yeah. When I went to go look for you.”

“Fuck,” Harry breathed out. “I’m so sorry, Louis. I know we didn’t agree to anything tonight, but he honestly came out of nowhere and just kissed me.”

“Harry,” Louis shook his head with a frown. “Please don’t apologize for that. You have nothing to be sorry for. Isaac kissed you, I know. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me.”

“Why do you say that? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I dragged you into my mess, didn’t I? It wasn’t right of me to do.”

“Yeah, but if you didn’t, then I wouldn’t have gotten to know you like I did,” Harry said.

“What do you mean?”

There was a small smile on Harry’s lips as he clasped his hands in front of him. “Operation Karma brought us together and I knew it would, which was why I agreed. I wanted to get to know you.”

“You wanted to get to know me?” Louis asked. If that was the case, Harry didn’t need to agree to Operation Karma. Louis would have gladly gotten to know him without all this mess.

“Yes,” Harry answered. “Because, Louis...I like you. A lot. In _that_ way.”

Louis’ cheeks grew warm and he had an ear splitting grin on his face. “In _what_ way?” he teased, peering over at Harry, who was wearing a similar expression, but a little more smug and shy at the same time.

“In the way where I’d like to hold your hand right now and maybe kiss you, too.”

God. Louis had no idea why he was even nervous about this conversation. It was Harry! Harry, who was uncomplicated and honest and so open with his feelings, something Louis was just not used to in this day and age. He felt so much better after having talked with him.

Louis slowed to a stop, facing Harry, and Harry did the same. Without another word, he leaned over and hugged the other boy, tight and warm. “And I like you a lot as well. In _that_ way.”

He could hear Harry laugh softly, his long arms wrapped snug around Louis while they stood in the middle of a dark street. After a while, Harry leaned back at arm's length to look at him, and they both leaned back in for a kiss. Sweet and light, because they both deserved something good after the last few months.

♡

For all the times Louis and Harry had hooked up, they’d never spent the night with each other. Louis wasn’t sure if it was because of the timing of their hook ups, as they usually saw each other in the afternoon or early evening, or if they knew it would possibly make things awkward, since they hadn’t yet defined their relationship. The week after they made things official, they had gotten busy with school, so they didn’t have the opportunity to do anything more than hang out in between classes. It wasn’t until karaoke night at Harry and Eleanor’s that they found themselves in the same bed at night.

The night was a success. They’d ordered in every thing off the menu from a local Chinese restaurant, sang their hearts out, and laughed until they cried at everyone’s attempts. The highlight of the night for Louis was definitely when he and Harry dueted with “You Are The Music In Me” from _High School Musical 2_. It wasn't until 3 AM that everyone started to get tired and decided it was time for sleep. The girls all made a bed on the floor in Eleanor’s bedroom while the guys did the same in the living room. Louis snuck off with Harry to his room and after changing into their PJ’s, they’d gotten under the covers and stole kisses while talking about everything and nothing.

“I’m hungry,” Louis said, tracing his finger along Harry’s collarbone.

“Dinner was a while ago,” Harry replied. “What are you hungry for? I think we’ve got a ton of leftovers.”

“Not more Chinese food, that’s for sure. Maybe something sweet,” Louis thought for a moment before his eyes brightened. “Cupcakes. Fuck. I’d do anything for cupcakes right now.”

“Yeah? I’ve got, like, the ingredients for it.”

Louis smiled at Harry, sweet and saccharine, an expression he often wore when he wanted to get his way. Harry narrowed his eyes at Louis, like he knew and was used to this. “Want to go bake some?”

“Louis,” Harry reprimanded, though he was smiling. “It’s late. Everyone’s asleep.”

“What do _they_ or _time_ have to do with anything? I just want to bake some cupcakes with my boyfriend.”

Harry’s brows shot up, looking delighted. “Your boyfriend. Well, I mean, if you say it like that, how’s your boyfriend going to say no to you?”

“That’s what I thought,” Louis whispered, moving closer until his nose bumped against Harry’s and their lips slotted together just right. The kiss had Louis feeling like he was elevated and flying, his heart thrumming in his chest. When he’d met Harry almost eight months ago, he couldn’t have imagined that he could make Louis feel this way. Back then he was just a face amongst the crowd at the party and in school, but slowly, he became the only face Louis sought out.

Harry pulled away, looking like he wanted to do anything but that. “Cupcakes?”

“Or we could just kiss,” Louis suggested, feeling dazed and hungry for Harry’s lips now rather than cupcakes.

“Yeah, but if I keep kissing you, I’m going to want to do more and there’s an apartment full of people right now.”

Begrudgingly, Louis realized he was right, so they both crawled out of bed, tiptoeing out to the kitchen. Everyone was asleep by then. Liam and Zayn were splayed out on the couches while Niall and Ed spooned each other on the floor. They tried to be as quiet as possible, but after a while, their voices grew in excitement as they spoke. At one point, Louis had Harry laughing so hard while doing an impersonation of Kristen Stewart that Ed woke up.

He sat up, peeking into the kitchen with bleary eyes. “What the fuck is going on?” he asked.

“Oh, sorry,” Harry smiled apologetically. “Louis and I are baking cupcakes. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Sorry,” Louis tacked on. He was perched up on the counter while Harry was busy getting the frosting ready. The batch they’d made was already in the oven.

Ed looked at them carefully for a moment, as though he was observing them. The couple had told their friends they were definitely a _thing_ now, but something about the way Ed was looking at them made Louis feel like they were still being assessed. In the end, whatever Ed was thinking must have been good because he laid back down with a small smile on his face.

Louis thought back to the time when Ed ranted to them about the concept of “new romantics.” He’d said that new romantics played games. They weren’t honest with each other and everything was always a blurry line between just friends and more. Louis could relate to that. He’d done that with almost every boy he’d ever been romantically involved with, recently Isaac. There was something thrilling about it. The chase was almost more fun than the actual relationship, which was why it was such a rude awakening when Louis realized people were so busy with games and the chase that they couldn’t see if the person they liked was actually right for them or not.

With Harry, since there were no games, Louis was sure he was right. He wondered if that was what Ed saw when he saw them together -- that they were _right_.

♡

When Louis woke up the following day, he realized he slept in well past the morning. The clock on Harry’s bedside table read 1:42 PM. Shit. He and Harry hadn’t been able to go back to bed until at least five or six in the morning. They’d baked their cupcakes, ate them with a glass of milk each, and then had a sugar rush so they stayed up talking about stupid things like their favorite episode of _Friends_ and embarrassing childhood memories.

Rolling over, Louis found Harry still in bed, tapping away on his phone. “Hi,” Louis mumbled, patting Harry’s stomach, where his navy blue duvet was pooled around.

Harry turned to look at him and smiled. “Hello,” he responded, leaning in closer to Louis. “Have a nice sleep?”

“Yeah. Your bed is nice and comfortable.”

“Thanks. I’m quite fond of it, too.”

“When did you wake up?”

“Ten minutes ago. Everyone else is gone.”

Louis frowned. “Gone? Where?”

“They went out for brunch, apparently, and then Niall took them to some bowling place that plays ‘80s hits on Sundays, so now they’re all there.”

“What the fuck! They left us behind.”

“Well,” Harry chuckled. “We did sleep in quite a bit.”

“Don’t let them get away with this, Harry,” Louis scowled. He would have loved to go for brunch and then bowling. Didn’t his friends know that if they wanted to be a squad, they couldn’t leave anyone out?

Harry giggled at Louis’ scowl, putting his phone down and turning over on his side to face the other boy. “What are you going to do, Lou? Get revenge?” He said the last part with a raise of his eyebrows, all sly and mischievous.

“Excuse me, but are you _mocking_ me?”

“Of course not,” Harry shook his head, trying to look serious, but his smile gave him away. As Louis started to shoot back a retort, Harry leaned over and grabbed him by the waist, climbing on top of him and hiding his face in Louis’ neck while his hands tickled down Louis’ waist.

Louis let out an embarrassing shriek of laughter, trying to push Harry off. Eventually, he managed to hike his leg up Harry’s waist and roll them over until he was the one on top. Harry laid back in bed, breathing in slowly as he stared back at Louis. He was a fucking sight. So, so, so pretty. Louis couldn’t help but trace his finger slowly down Harry’s bare torso, causing him to shiver.

“How long do you think everyone will be gone?” Louis asked, watching as Harry’s eyes grew dark, red lips softly parted.

“Long enough,” Harry replied, his hands coming around to grip Louis’ waist.

Louis wasted no time in bending down and touching his lips to Harry’s. Harry kissed him back hotly, his hands slowly traveling down Louis’ back until they were gripping his ass in his palms. Louis ground his hips down in response, feeling Harry’s dick thicken against his. They both let out breathy sighs, panting in each other’s mouths while Louis’ continued to grind down on him. Their lips explored each other, tongues sliding slowly, wet and plush.

Pulling away for a breather, Louis nudged Harry’s nose with his, placing his lips at the corner of Harry’s mouth. He continued to pepper Harry’s jaw with soft kisses, trailing his mouth down to his neck. Harry was letting out pretty moans, pleased and  turned on.

“I know you said you top _and_ bottom, but what’s your preference?” Louis asked him, blinking down at the other boy.

Harry licked his lips, eyes blown. “Doesn’t matter. I usually top. But I’ll do anything you want.”

“Well I want you to fuck me, so that works out nicely.”

Within seconds, Louis was on his back with Harry hovering over him. He had a playful grin on his face as he reached over his side table, rifling through his drawer. “Do you want me to dom you?” Harry asked.

“What?” Louis squeaked.

“Didn’t you say Isaac used to dom you in bed?”

“I did _not_ say that -- you did. I said he liked being in control. I didn’t let him _dom_ me. Besides, I don’t want to think about Isaac while I’m with you.” Louis wrinkled his nose and Harry nodded, his expression a lot more solemn. Harry finally found lube and a condom and put them at his side.

Louis was excited, to say the least. He hadn’t had proper sex in almost a year and it’d been far too long, in his opinion. He could just tell Harry would be a good lover, too. With Isaac, there were times where Louis was bored during the sex. It was exciting at first, but that had worn off quickly.

“Can I take this off?” Harry asked, his fingers nimble over the waist of Louis’ boxer briefs.

“Please,” Louis nodded. Harry sighed as he stared down at Louis’s body while tugging off his boxer briefs. He ran his hands over his skin, bending his head down to press sporadic kisses across his chest all the way down to his hips. He leaned over to grab the lube and Louis heard him click the tube open and coat his fingers. Harry lifted one of Louis’ legs up, resting it over his own shoulder while reaching between his legs and prodding against Louis’ hole with a slick finger.

Louis was impatient, ready for Harry to just get on with it, but Harry seemed to want to take his time. His lips sucked a deep mark on Louis’ hip while he pressed his finger against Louis’ rim. He slowly, slowly pushed past his first and then second knuckle and lightly stroked his finger in and out. Meanwhile, his mouth moved away from the love bite to pay attention to Louis’ leaking, hard cock.

“How about more fingers?” Louis asked after he started relaxing under Harry’s touch.

“Don’t worry,” Harry sing-songed, I’ll get to it.” Harry punctuated his reassurance by licking a stripe up Louis’ cock.

Louis squirmed and Harry placed his other free hand over Louis’ hip to settle him. It gave him a slight height advantage and he used it to wrap his lips around the tip of Louis’ cock. His tongue flattened against his slit and Louis hissed as Harry swallowed the precome that had dribbled out. All the while, he’d slipped in another finger inside of him, stretching him bit by bit.

With Harry’s mouth and fingers both working, Louis felt himself start to get hotter and hotter. At last, when he’d gotten up to four fingers, Harry pulled off. He looked wrecked, fumbling with the condom wrapper and putting it on himself. His dick was heavy and red, and Louis was ready to have it in him, like, yesterday.

After lubing himself up, Harry grabbed Louis’ ankles, giving him a smile as he bent his legs, nearly folding him in half. “Ready? Or should we just --”

“Shut up,” Louis responded, a laugh escaping both their lips. Harry pushed in slowly until Louis grabbed him by the back of his neck, pulling him in for a kiss and shifting down to get him in all the way. They both moaned roughly into each other’s mouths, Louis feeling a pleasant burn as he finally felt Harry’s full length inside him.

“Fuck,” Harry panted, moving out to push back in again.

Louis couldn’t speak as Harry started thrusting properly. His hips were relentless, pounding in and out. Louis still had his hands tangled in Harry’s hair and he couldn’t help but pull on it when Harry hit him right on his spot. He could feel his orgasm getting close and he said as much to Harry. Harry pulled out, only to flop backwards and pull Louis along with him. Louis grappled until he found his balance and Harry gripped his cock, nudging it back inside Louis.

Harry released a throaty moan when he was fully inside and Louis was seated over him. He shifted his hips up, continuing to rock into Louis, and Louis grinded back down to chase his own orgasm. Harry locked eyes with him and Louis leaned down, their lips finding each other. They kissed hungrily and as they did, Louis felt the heat that had built up inside of him finally let go. He let out a soft whimper in Harry’s mouth as his come streaked between their chests. It was only a moment later that Harry followed and Louis watched the way his lips parted, eyes fluttering shut. His lashes were dark as they fanned across his milky skin. Louis wanted to see Harry like this forever.

The moment lasted a minute, the two of them coming down from their highs, and in that minute Louis found a thousand different reasons why he’d finally gotten it right with Harry.


	5. may/june

It was as though Louis blinked and the school year had come to an end. He’d taken his last final two days ago and started talking with his mom about when he could come down to visit Boston for a few weeks like he did every summer break. Liam was going to be spending the summer traveling with Sophia, while Zayn was staying back and doing an internship. Gigi was going to be cruising some tropical islands with her family and then coming back in August to be with Zayn.

Louis didn’t have any set plans this summer other than going back home for a bit, but hoped whatever he ended up doing included Harry. Harry hadn’t said much about what he was doing, but so far, they’d just been enjoying each other’s company and not worrying too much about anything else. Every week they went on a date, each one a little different than the last. One weekend they drove to New York for a Kodaline concert and then another day they found this cute little tea shop that had all the board games they could imagine, so they’d spent the whole day there playing Uno and Trouble.

What’s more, Louis couldn’t remember a time when he’d laughed this much in his life. When he met up with his friends for dinner one night, they said he had a glow to him that could have only come from hanging out with Harry before joining them, and Louis waved them off, telling them he wasn’t pregnant so there was no _glow_. But deep down, Louis was giddy that he had someone who made him so happy that it showed. He was so completely enamored by Harry and for the first time, he was sure that the feeling was completely mutual.

♡

It was the last big party of the year and Louis spent the better part of the night wrapped up in Harry, who was drunk. Way more drunk than Louis was, which was an experience because watching Harry make a fool of himself while Louis was pretty much sober was interesting. His limbs were loose and agile, hanging on to Louis like an octopus, while he giggled about absolutely everything. Zayn said it wasn’t much different from when he was sober.

“Leave my boyfriend alone, Zayn,” Louis reprimanded, stroking Harry’s cheek to get the soft pout off his lips.

“I wasn’t making fun of him. It’s quite cute,” Zayn said.

“We are _quite_ cute,” Harry smiled dopily, looking at Louis.

“Yes, _quite,_ ” Louis agreed.

Harry laughed, leaning forward until his lips touched Louis’. The kiss was uncoordinated and a bit sloppy since Harry was giggling at the same time. Louis patted Harry’s cheek to get him off and looked past his shoulder. Standing a few feet away were some guys he’d met in his Stats classes this semester. When one of them, Stan, looked over and waved to Louis, he realized it’d be rude if he didn’t at least go over to say hi.

“Hey, H,” Louis said. “I’m going to go say hi to a few friends, okay? Can you wait here for me?”

Harry nodded, pressing a kiss to Louis’ cheek before letting go and leaning against the wall. Louis walked over to Stan, giving him a smile and friendly hug. They caught up on how they did on their final exam and how they would do on the final grade. After finals chat, they ventured into talk of summer. Stan told Louis about his vacation home in Florida that his family always went to and how he was definitely planning on going to Disney at least a couple of times that summer.

By the time the conversation ended and Louis retreated back to his boyfriend, he found that Harry wasn’t where he’d left him. Frowning, Louis walked around the house of the sorority that was hosting the party, seeking Harry out. He’d found Niall by the jungle juice bowl and asked.

“I think he went out back,” Niall said. “Grabbed one of these as he did.” Niall gestured down to the bowl and Louis winced. Harry had already had too much to drink. He quickly walked out back and sure enough, Harry was out there, but he wasn’t alone.

Louis had done his best to avoid Isaac as much as possible the remaining few weeks of school, but somehow he’d shown up at this party and cornered Harry again. Harry had deleted and blocked Isaac’s number not too long after he and Louis became official, so Louis knew Isaac probably had a lot to say. Unlike last time, Louis didn’t stand back and let the scene unfold. Instead, he marched over, making eye contact with Harry over Isaac’s shoulder.

Harry, upon seeing Louis, gave him a bright smile, extending his hand out for him. Louis took it and just as Harry pulled Louis against him, Isaac turned to look at him. His expression was almost comical, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

Louis smiled at him, friendly. “Hey, Isaac. Nice seeing you here.”

Isaac continued to only gape at him, his eyes lingering over where Harry had his arm around Louis before meeting their eyes. “You, too.”

“And where did you go off to?” Louis asked, turning to look at Harry, as though Isaac wasn’t standing right there. “Had me worried.”

“Sorry, Lou. I was thirsty, so I got something to drink and then I got hot inside, so I came out,” Harry responded. “Won’t leave you again.” He finished the end of the sentence with a firm kiss pressed to Louis’ lips and when Louis looked back, Isaac was still standing there, watching them with a bewildered expression.

“How do you two know each other?” he asked.

“Me and Lou?” Harry asked. “Oh, we go way back. And now he’s my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Isaac nearly shouted, his face going red. He was pissed. He was _royally_ pissed and Louis couldn’t help but think that this was exactly what he’d wanted at some point. He wanted Isaac to lose his mind and have his heart broken, but seeing it happen now did absolutely nothing to him.

There was a time when after the breakup when Louis would make up long speeches in his head about the things he’d say if he and Isaac were to ever talk again. Some of them were sad and wistful while others were angry. But looking at Isaac now, knowing that this was the moment to say something if he wanted to, Louis just couldn’t be bothered. He wanted absolutely nothing from Isaac anymore.

“Yes,” Louis said. “Boyfriends. Harry and me.”

Isaac stammered, face growing more and more furious by the second. “I -- what -- Jesus, _fuck_!”

Harry laughed, delighted by Isaac’s choice of words. “Yeah, I was never interested in you. Not even for a second. In fact, I think you’re a loser, boring, annoying, and frankly, a bad kisser.”

That seemed to have been the last, humiliating straw for Isaac because he stomped off, leaving the couple alone. Louis tilted his head up to look at Harry, who seemed quite pleased with himself. “That was cold, Harry. Didn't’ think you had it in you.”

“My mom always says to treat people with kindness, but Isaac didn’t treat you the way you deserved to be treated, so I wasn’t ever going to be nice to him. I know I was before, but that was all an act. I really don’t like him, Lou.”

“It’s alright. He’s not important.”

“On the bright side,” Harry smiled. “I guess Operation Karma ended up working after all.”

Louis laughed, shaking his head. “I think I’ll let karma do it’s own thing from now on.”

♡

June got unbearably hot. It didn’t help that Harry’s only air conditioner was busted so they had to make do with several fans and all the windows propped open. Despite the hot air, Louis still opted to stay with Harry, especially now that Eleanor had taken off back to her parent’s place for a few weeks for break. They sublet her room to a girl who was rarely home, so Louis and Harry often had the place to themselves.

It was bliss as they were constantly in a love and sex haze. Without school and responsibilites bringing them down, they were free to stay wrapped up in each other. Their dates had dwindled down now, and they opted to either stay in and watch TV all day or go to the park since the weather called for it. Sometimes they hung out with their friends, those who were still in town, and grabbed a drink nearby. But Louis’ favorite days were the ones where they got drunk off the wine Harry insisted on always keeping around and dancing lazily in the kitchen.

They’d just finished dancing to “Hips Don’t Lie,” and were now swaying along to some slow James Bay song that Harry had playing. Louis was leaning the top half of his body on Harry while the other boy had his long arms wrapped around him, moving the two of their bodies to the slow beat. Their song choices had really evolved over time. Louis remembered one of the first times they’d gotten drunk and danced, Harry had “Shout Out to My Ex” by Little Mix on there as well as a bunch of upbeat post break up songs. And then when things started heating up between them, Harry started playing more suggestive songs, like the ones by Britney.

It made Louis smile thinking about how far along they’d come in the span of a year. Ten months ago, he’d doubted he’d ever feel the level of happiness he’d felt right before the break up, but now looking back, he was never really as happy as he convinced himself he was. Right now, though, Louis was happy. He couldn’t imagine being anywhere else other than this hot kitchen or with anyone else other than this tall, beautiful, lanky boy in front of him. Louis didn’t want anything else except this.

Louis tilted his head up, resting his chin on Harry’s chest, and beamed. Harry scrunched up his nose with a fond expression, leaning down to brush their lips together. Then, the song changed to a familiar one that Louis remembered hearing when he first entered this apartment.

_Hey, I hear the voice of a preacher from the back room_

_Calling my name and I follow just to find you_

_I trace the faith to a broken down television and put on the weather_

_And I've trained myself to give up on the past 'cause_

_I frozen time between hearses and caskets_

_Lost control when I panicked at the acid test_

_I wanna get better_

“I fucking love this song,” Louis grinned.

“Yeah?” Harry asked. “I remember you asking me about it when we first met.”

Louis slipped out of Harry’s embrace, dancing to the music as the chorus started coming up and the beat started getting fast. Harry watched him quietly, his eyes filled with adoration, and Louis twirled in his spot singing along to the words even though he didn't know them. When he waved his arms up, Harry grabbed his hand and pulled him to a stop.

“I love you,” he said, singing the words. “I just fucking love you.”

Movies and books always had explosions and deep monologues during this moment and Louis never believed in all that until now. There wasn't anything he was more sure of other than the fact that he loved Harry. And hearing Harry say it to him while one of the best songs played in the background was picture perfect for Louis.

_I didn't know I was lonely 'til I saw your face_

_I wanna get better, better, better, better,_

_I wanna get better_

_I didn't know I was broken 'til I wanted to change_

_I wanna get better, better, better, better,_

_I wanna get better_

“I love you, too, Harry,” Louis responded. Instead of kissing, like the movies or books would do, Harry threw his hands up in the air and the two of them sang and danced along.

Louis didn’t want to gloat, but his life was fantastic.

He didn’t have it all figured out, nor did he expect life to be smooth sailing all the time, but he had someone special -- someone he was sure of -- and that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed that! let me know your thoughts :)


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